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MUSIC IN WORK AND WORSHIP 


A Companion to 
“Music in WorK AND WorSHIP”’ 


CHURCH MUSIC 


WHAT A MINISTER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IT 
By EDMUND S. LORENZ 


@_ “ While the need of seminary classes has been to the fore in 
the preparation of this volume, the author has not been forgetful 
of the minister already in the field, who feels his musical limita- 
tions and who is desirous of enlarging the scope of his musical 
culture and activities. The organization of the material for class 
use should be of service to him instead of a handicap.” —Preface. 


What It Contains: 


INTRODUCTION 
I. Ideas Underlying the Dis- 


cussion of Chur usic. 


I, “Why a Liprmge Should Study 


Mus 
Ill. What a : Minister Should Know 
About eer 


PART I 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF MUSICAL 
SOUNDS 

IV. The Sie oat Element in 


Musical 
V. The Physical Element in 
Musical Sound. 


VI. Musical Notation. 


PART Il 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSIC 
VII. The Problem, of the Char- 


acter of Music. 


VIII. The Psychology of Music's 


ction. : 
IX. Nervous Correspondence 
ion Music and Emo- 


X. Seeus Corollaries of Musical 
Psychology. 
XI. Church Music as Applied 


Art. 
XII. How Church Music Assists. 


PART III 
THE HISTORY OF CHURCH MUSIC 

. The Origin of Music. 

. Pre-Christian Music. 

. Pre-Christian Music. 

. Early Christian Music. 

. Church Music Under Papal 
Auspices. 

. Mediaeval Church Music. 

. The Music of the Refor- 
mation. 

. The English Psalm Tune. 

. The English Hymn Tune,. 

. New England Psalmody. 

. The American HymnTune, ° 

. The American Spiritual. 

. American Sunday-School 
Music. 

. The Gospel Song. 

. The rane of Motets - 
and Anthems. 

, sigue and Church 

tatas. 


PART IV 
THE PIPE ORGAN 
XXIX. Description of the Pipe 


- Organ, 

XXX. The History of the Pipe 
Organ. 

XXXI. The Development of Organ 
usic. 

XXXII. Purchasing a Pipe Organ. 





8vo Cloth, $3.50 






Music in Work a 
Worship 


A DISCUSSION OF CHURCH MUSIC AS 
AN APPLIED ART 


By ty 
EDMUND S. LORENZ 


Author of “Church Music,” ‘‘Practical Church 
Music,” ‘‘Getting Ready for a Revival.” 


Editor of “The Choir Leader” and “The 
Choir Herald.”’ 


“God ts a spirit: and they that worship Him must 
worship Him in spirit and in truth.” —JoHN 4:24 





New York CHICAGO 


Fleming H. Revell Company 


LONDON AND EDINBURGH 


Copyright, MCMXXvV, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 


Printed in the United States of America 


New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 


Preface 


N the preparation of this book, together with the com- 
panion volume, CHurcH MusIc, issued last year, the 
author has had before him the needs of three classes: 

the students in the theological seminaries, the ministers in 
the active pastorate who feel the gaps left in their prepa- 
ration for actual work, and the musical workers in the 
churches, organists, choir directors and song leaders, who 
are ambitious to excel. 

This is not a treatise for experts, therefore, but for 
workers of somewhat limited musical knowledge and ex- 
perience, who need the line upon line in instruction and 
precept upon precept in method here supplied. 

The work of the author has been rendered exceedingly 
difficult by the extreme variation in the resources, culture 
and ideals of the congregations served by the ministers 
whom he desires to help. Who shall disentangle the 
general principles of psychological reaction from the en- 
veloping web of outward circumstances and make their 
varied application clear? 

However, the effort has been made, and a wealth of 
suggestion has been sought in their varied application. 
These suggestions have been practicable, definite, ready 
for actual use. If the needs of average churches have 
been kept to the fore, it must be remembered that there 
are so many more of them. 

This is a book of a thousand and one details, and yet 
does not pretend to bring all the possible minutiz of the 
methodology of church music. Some readers will wonder 
that so much self-evident advice has been tendered and 
others that so much that seems to them of great impor- 


5 


6 PREFACE 


tance has been omitted. It is hoped, however, that the 
author’s sense of proportion has guided him aright. 

There has been no attempt to supply technical instruc- 
tion in any line—quite the reverse! The classes to be 
served by this discussion could not use it. 

Again the author has freely drawn upon his earlier 
book, “ Practical Church Music,” feeling he could not 
spare the time to rewrite the material found there and 
that he could not add to its lucidity. 

For purposes of study and recitation the material has 
been as thoroughly organised as its practical nature per- 
mitted. Logic has been employed as a servant, not as an 
impracticable master. 

The author has continued the class room suggestions 
very reluctantly, having a sense of carrying coals to Scran- 
ton, to adapt an English phrase. Yet there may be 
hospitably minded teachers who will appreciate the rather 
self-evident hints that are offered. 

There is no generous supply of literature on the prac- 
tical phases of church music. What there is in this 
country has appeared chiefly in magazines such as “ ‘The 
Choir Leader,” “The Etude,” ‘The Musician,” ‘“ The 
Musical Observer,” and others. It has been freely drawn 
upon for quotations and suggestions. Among English 
books, ‘‘ United Praise,” by F. G. Edwards, and “ Studies 
in Worship Music,” by J. 5. Curwen, have been most 
helpful. Among American books the most helpful has 
been F. W. Wodell’s “ Choir and Chorus Conducting.” 
Other valuable books have been mentioned in the “ Sup- 
plementary Reading” prefixed to the several parts. 

The author wishes to express his high appreciation of 
the help given by Prof. Henry H. Tweedie, D.D., of the 
Yale Divinity School, in whom he found a critic frank 
and unsparing, but sympathetic and suggestive, and also 


PREFACE if 


of the encouragement given by President J. G. K. 
McClure, D.D., of McCormick Theological Seminary. 

The book has also been enriched by the suggestions and 
criticisms of the author’s brother, D. E. Lorenz, Ph.D., 
of New York City, and of the writer’s editorial associate, 
Rev. Professor Herm. von Berge, upon the practical ex- 
perience of both of which musical ministers he has freely 
drawn. Prof. von Berge has also been most helpful in the 
reading of the proofs and in preparing the index of 
the book. 

Recognition should also be given to the loving labours 
of the author’s two daughters, Miss Barbara Lorenz and 
Mrs. Prof. J. B. Showers, who deciphered the hurriedly 
written rough draft, complicated by numerous insertions 
and interlineations, and transformed it into an orderly 
copy ready for final study. 

Back of all the practical purposes of this volume, the 
author has felt the urge of a strong desire of contributing 
to the securing of a deeper spirituality, a profounder sin- 
cerity, and a greater efficiency in the use of music in the 
work of the evangelical churches of America. If this 
book succeeds in this high endeavor, the author will not 
begrudge the time stolen from his regular editorial duties 
and from his opportunities for needed recreation. 


Bekao by 
Dayton, Ohio. 


BPN): 
i NEN 





Contents 
INTRODUCTION 


EFFICIENCY IN CuHurcH Music . 


1. 


Efficiency Tests in Church Work. 2. Ma- 
terial Efficiency Tests Easily Applied. 3. Not 


Easy in Church Music. 4... Three..Lines..of 


Efficiency in Church Musice5. Elements in 
SecuringEfficiency’””"6. Music’s Contribution 


to Church Efficiency. 7. The Selection of the ‘ 


Music. 8. The Musical Organisation of the 
Church. 9. The Pastor Should be the Ex- 
ecutive Head. 10. Inventory of Musical 
Resources. 


PART I 
THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


I. Tur NEED OF AN ORDER OF SERVICE 
1. 


Study of the Order of Service Needful. 2. 
Some Order of Action Necessary. 3. Ac- 
cepted Orders of Service Fundamentally Cor- 
rect. 4. Controlling Ideas in an Order of 
Service. 5. The Psychological..Progress of 
a Service... 6. Thrée Factors Condition” the 
Order of Service. 7. Two Services Each 
Sunday with Like Order of Service is Unwise. 
8. The Faults of a Rigid Order of Service. 
9. How to Preserve Its Values. 10. Evening 
aut Special Services Have Order of Their 
wn. 


Il. THE PsycHoLrocy oF THE STANDARD 


ORDER OF SERVICE. 


1. 


Its Supposed Sanctity. 2. Its ts Digiane 


A. The Devotional Section . 


1) 


The Religious Attitude of the C 7 
at the Opening. 2. The Effect of the Pre- 
lude. 3. The Choir Processional. 4. The In- 
troit by the Congregation or by the Choir. 5. 
The Invocation. 6. The First Congregational 
Hymn. 7. The Responsive Reading....8...The 


9 


17 


31 


41 


42 


10 CONTENTS 


Anthem by the Choir or the Solo. 9. The 
Long Prayer. 10. The Second Congre- 
gational Hymn. 11. The Intrusion of the 
Didactic into the Devotional Section is 
Unfortunate. 


Ill. THe PsycHorocy oF THE STANDARD 
OrpDER OF SERVICE (Concluded) . . . . 


B. The Didactic Section 


1. The Announcements and Offertory. 2. The 
Scripture Reading. 3. The Chief Anthem 
by the Choir. 4. The Sermon. 5. The Hymn 
After the Sermon. 6. The Benediction. 7. 
The Postlude. 


C. Enrichments of the Regular Order of 


Cerio: ee ce eM 
. Recitations by the Congregation: The Apos- 
tles’ Creed, The Ten Commandments, Substi- 
tutes for the Responsive Reading. 2. The Use 
of Responses. 3. Outside Additions to the 
Order of Service. 4. Gradual Introduction 
of Variations. 5. The Building of a Good 
Service not Easy. 


LV, - PREG OrpERS OF SERVICE is) tiie) o! ae ie 
1. Regular Order for Spiritual Edification. 2. 
Ineffectiveness of Repeating the Morning 
Service. 3. Securing the Attendance of the 
Unchurched. 4. Other Meetings. 5. Minis- 

terial Adaptation to Free Services. 


— 


PART II 


THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


Vie Tk Pree ORGAN eran gone s ys 
1. Past Use of the Pipe Organ. 2. The Need 
of Instrumental Support. 3. Other Instru- 
ments Used to Support Voices. 4. The Pipe 
Organ. 5. The Care of the Pipe Organ. 6. 

The Study of the Pipe Organ. 


VIELE Re ORGANIST Hl ed Si 


1. The Importance of the Organist. 2. Who 
Shall Select the Organist? 3. The Qualifica- 
tions Needed. 4. Method of Examination. 


55 
55 


67 


81 


92 


VII. 


AAG 


IX. 


XI, 


XII, 


. A Stupy IN CHurcH HyMNAIs. 


CONTENTS 


5. The Organist’s Relation to the Pastor. 6. 
The Playing of Hymn Tunes. 7. Interludes. 


THE Orcanist (Concluded) 


8. The Accompanying of Solos. 9. Common 
Faults in Organ Playing. 10. Keeping an 
Index of Organ Music. 11. Organists Un- 
derpaid. 12. Mottoes for Organists. 


PART III 
CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


THE Duty AND VALUE OF CONGREGA- 
TIONAL SINGING 


1. The Duty of Praising God. 2. en cican 
tional Singing the Ideal Form of Church 
Music. 3. Recognised..in»All-Ages...4.. The 
Reasons for Its’ Power. 


BUILDING UP CONGREGATIONAL SINGING . 


1. The First Essential is Ministerial Interest. 
2. Awakening Interest in the Congregation. 
3. Increase Spirituality in the Congregation. 
4. Often Not an Easy Task. 5. People to be 
Interested. 6. The Duty of the Congregation 
to Prepare. 7. The Importance of Hymnals. 
8. Singing Without the Hymnal. 


1. The Importance of the Hymnal. 2. The 
Hymnal as a Means to an End.. 3. The 
Hymnal a Problem of Practicability. 4. 
The Mechanical Aspects of Hymnals. 5. 
Large Denominations Need More Than One 
Hymnal. 


Tur Tests oF A Goop HyMN TuNE .. 


1. What is a Tune? 2. Beware of Hard and 
Fast Formulas. 3. The Criteria of a Good 
Hymn Tune. 4. Mismating of Hymns and 
Tunes. 


THE SELECTION oF HyMN TUNES 


1. Ministerial Attitude to Hymn Tunes. 2. 
Study of Hymn Tunes. 3. Classes of Hymn 
Tunes. 4. Psychological Value of Hymn 
Tunes. 5. Use General Favorites. 6. Re- 
hearsal of Unknown Tunes. 


11 


. 102 


+ LES 


127 


. 140 


152 


. 164 


12 CONTENTS 


XIII. LEADERSHIP IN CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 176 


1. The Precentor. 2. Characteristics of a Good 
Precentor. 3. The Choir as Leader. 4. In- 
strumental Leadership. 5. The Organ as 
Leader. 


XIV. Mrtuops In CoNGREGATIONAL SINGING . 188 


1. The Purposes of Its Use. 2. Five Essentials. 
3. The Treatment of the Hymn. 4. Persuad- 
ing the Congregation to Sing. 5. The Treat- 
ment of the Hymn in the Evening Service. 


XV. MerHops IN CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


(Concluded) (oy om. . 199 


6. Expression in Hymn Singing. 7. Speed in 
Hymn Singing. 8. Congregational Flatting. 
9, Unisonal Singing. 10. Things to Avoid. 


PART IV 
DHE CHURCH (CHO 


XVI. Tur History AND THE ADVANTAGES OF 
THE CHOIR. SS ERE Aantal dane abe 


A‘) The History of the (hom sii. 20S 


1. Origin of the Choir. 2. Choirs in Ancient 
Nations. 3. Choirs in the Christian Church. 


B. The Advantages of the Choir. . . . 216 


1. The Primary Advantages of the Choir. 2. 
Incidental Advantages of the Choir. 3. The 
Misuse of the Choir. 


XVII. Tue Form oF THE CHOIR... ieee 


1. The Various Kinds of Choirs. 2. The Quar- 
tet Choir. 3. The Octet or Double Quartet. 
4. Men’s Choir. 5. Women’s Choir. 6. The 
Boy Choir. 7. The Chorus Choir. 8. Substi- 
tutes for the Regular Choir. 


XN VILL OrcANISING RE CHOIR Wi egy ede 


1. The Pastor’s Duty. 2. Personnel of the 
Choir. 3. Prepare Congregation for Choir. 
4. Preliminary Organisation. 5. Train Choir 
ee Using. 6. Creating Material for 

oir. 


XIX. 


XX, 


XXI. 


XXII, 


XXIII. 


XXIV. THE CHorr REHEARSAL (Concluded) 


ORGANISING THE CHoIR (Concluded) 
7. Some Important Points. 8. Singers Should 


ORGANISATION OF THE CHOIR . 
1. Organisation Needed. 2. Constitution and 


WER CHOP LR ROTOR ay i eu ene 
1. The Importance of the Choir Director. 2. 


THE SELECTION OF THE Music 
1. Preparing for the Selection of the Music. 2. 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL . A 
1. Preparation for the Rehearsal. a. Place. b. 


CONTENTS 


be Christians. 


By-Laws. 3. Organisation of the Singers. 4. 
The Official Relations of the Choir. 5. The 
Choir and the Congregation. 


The Traits of a Good Choir Director. 3. The 
Work of the Choir Director. 


The Three Forms of Choir Music. 3. The 
Method of Selection. 4. Important Factors 
in Selection. 5. Avoiding the Purchase of 
New Music. 6. Choosing the Music to be 
Sung. 


Time. c. Attendance. d. Instrument. e. The 
Director’s Code of Signals. f. Music Pre- 
pared by Director and Organist. g. Distribu- 
tion of Music. h. The Use of the Baton. i. 
The Beating of the Time. j. The Seating of 
the Singers. k. Opening the Rehearsal with 
Prayer. 1. Beginning on Time. m. The 
Length of the Rehearsal. n. The Rehearsal 
a Time of Work. o. Extra Rehearsals. 2. 
The Training Section of the Rehearsal. a. 
Breath Control. b. Voice Training. c. The 
Blending of Voices. a. Special Difficulties in 
Blending. e. Special Forms of Singing. 


f. Enunciation. g. Attack and Release. h. 
Expression Should be Studied. i. Lessons in 
Note Reading. j. The Religious Training of the 
Choir. 3. Learning the Anthem. a. Assigning 
the Solos. b. Playing the Anthem Over. c. 
Learning the Notes. d. Sparing the Voices. 
e. Some General Suggestions. f. Incidental 
Voice Training. g. Avoid Monotony of Style. 
h. Conscientious Work to be Demanded. i. 
Learning Difficult Passages. j. The Intermis- 


18 


. 246 


. 254 


. 265 


wedo 


. 288 


. 303 


14 CONTENTS 


sion. k. Studying the Text. 1. Study of the 
Expression. m. Developing Spontaneity. n. 
Practising the Hymns. 

XXV. GENERAL CHOIR ACTIVITIES . . Wisi ts 


1. The Social Life of the Choir. 2. The Fi- 
nances of the Choir. 3. The Auxiliary Work 
of the Choir. 4. Methods of the Choir. 


PART V 


SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL CHURCH 
MUSIC 


XXVI. Occasionar Forms of CuurcH Music . 329 — 


1. Church Solos. 2. Men’s Quartets. 3. The 
Use of Cantatas. 4. Concerts and Recitals. 
5. Funeral Music. 


XXVII. EvANGELISTIC AND SuNDAY-scHooL Music 341 


A. Music in Evangelistic Work. . . . 341 

1. The Mission of Song in Evangelism. 2. The 
Book of Evangelistic Songs. 3. Method and 
Spirit of Leadership. 

B. Music in the Sunday-school . . . . 346 

1. The Responsibility of the Minister. 2. The 
Underlying Facts. 3. The Song Leader. 4. 
Supporting Instruments. 


XX VillwTrEe SONG SERVICE iy 4 Ciae 


1. Two Sunday Services. 2. Giving Variety to 
the Evening Services. 3. Song Services. 4. 


\ “Sacred Concerts.” 5. Suggestive Outline of 
a Song Service. 
XXIX. Pee SONG OERBMOND oa. U us sities ages 


1. The Difference Between the Song Service 
and the Song Sermon. 2. The Value of the 
Song Sermon. 3. The Structure of a Song 
Sermon. 4. Selection of Music. 5. Ef- 
fective Handling of Materials. 6. Illustrative 
Outline of a Song Sermon. 7. Illustrative 
Outline of a Prayer-meeting Song Talk. 

ENDEX RHE re ei te re « e 


GLossary oF Common Musicay TERMs . 384 


INTRODUCTION 
EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH MUSIC 


“ Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that 
needeth not to be ashamed.”—2 Timoruy 2:15. 


EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH MUSIC 


Class Room Suggestions: This introduction is one of the most 
important parts of this discussion. It lies at the foundation of all 
that follows in objectives, motives or methods. Through igno- 
rance, through lack of musical capacity, through narrow vision 
that does not clearly grasp the final objectives of church work, 
through blindness to the psychological reactions which condition 
religious results, members of the class may come to this study 
with no idea of its importance or its value in their future work. 
It is the teacher’s task to rouse their interest in it and to make 
plain how essential it is to their future success. Special stress 
should be laid on the minister’s relation to the music and on the 
inventory of musical resources. 


Before undertaking the study of our subject, it is evi- 
dent that we should have a clear idea of the objectives 
of church music and the general attitude to be taken 
towards them. In other words, we should canvass the 
essential elements of efficiency in the management of 
church music. 


1. ErricieEncy TkEsts IN CHURCH WorRK 


The application of the tests of efficiency to religious 
work is entirely proper and, if all the factors are properly 
weighed, is extremely valuable. Such a test would dis- 
close futile preaching and purposeless church effort, not 
only in individual congregations, but even in denomina- 
tional life as well. 

The efficiency test is particularly important in church 
music, as the objectives are not clearly formulated in the 
minds of many ministers and of their musical co-workers ; 
much less defined are the policies and methods, that ef- 
ficiency would require. When the financial cost of the 
church music is considered, running as it does into several 


17 


18 INTRODUCTION 


millions in the Protestant churches of the land, the ques- 
tion becomes a practical one. 


2. MATERIAL EFFICIENCY Tksts Eastuy APPLIED 


Material efficiency, as in manufactures, or farming, is 
easily calculated, as the terms involved are mechanical, 
tangible, analyzable. ‘The ultimate end is clearly defined ; 
the force to be applied is in most cases exactly estimated ; 
the different stages of the process are easily analysed and 
differentiated ; the results as a whole and in detail may be 
fully determined. 


3. Not Easy In CourcH Music 


a. Intangible Factors. In church music the proposed 
results are intangible, elusive, incalculable, complicated 
with other factors, and easily obscured. The forces em- 
ployed are indeterminate. ‘The methods to be used are 
complicated and difficult to formulate and it is impossible 
to gauge their comparative efficiency; because of their 
complexity and the vagueness of the proposed results, 
they may be conceived of as ends in themselves. 

b, Other Forces Complicate Inventory. ‘This inventory 
is all the more difficult, because the results of music in 
church use are complicated by the forces and methods 
which act in co-operation with it, sometimes covering up 
the lack of musical efficiency by their practical efficiency, 
sometimes neutralising the actual musical efficiency by 
their own lack of it. 

c. Inventory Rendered Difficult by False Ideals. An- 
other difficulty is that many church music workers have 
such false, distorted, exaggerated and even absurd ideas 
of the nature and value of music. Perhaps the most fatal 
of these misconceptions should be corrected here. 

Music in a church service is not an end in itself, but a 


EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH MUSIC 19 


means to an end. Church music is not pure, but applied 
art. It is a composite made up of music as an art and of 
the religious purpose for which it is used, and the latter 
is the more important. 

The music of a church service is not a primary religious 
element, as it has no inherent religious value, but is simply 
a preparatory and contributory nervous factor, subordi- 
nate to the controlling purpose of that service. 

The whole process of determining efficiency in church 
music is complicated by the fact that we are not only in 
the realm of the psychological, but in that of the spiritual, 
whither our logical mental processes will not carry us. . 

While the determination of efficiency in this line of 
church effort cannot be exact, yet enough facts can be 
secured to justify analysis and the application of tests. 


4, THREE LINEs oF EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH Music 


In church music there are three distinct lines of 
efficiency : 

a. Musical efficiency in knowledge, skill, culture, taste 
and management. ‘This constitutes its skeleton, the mere 
dry bones of Ezekiel’s valley. It is very valuable, but 
only as a foundation for the exercise of more vital 
elements. 

b. Popular efficiency in reaching and affecting the peo- 
ple to be influenced. ‘This is its flesh. The beginnings of 
vital processes are here, the tissues through which the 
currents of divine life shall flow to reach their ultimate 
purpose. 

c. Spiritual efficiency in securing religious results. This 
is the soul, the final test of efficiency inyehurch music. 
Only as the skeleton is clothed with the flesh of appeal to 
the people to be influenced and these tissues thrill with 
the tides of religious impulse consummated in religious 


20 INTRODUCTION 


decision, does the music of the service reach the true 
efficiency which justifies its use. 


5. ELEMEN'S IN SECURING EFFICIENCY 


As far as the worker is concerned the important ele- 
ments in securing efficiency in church music are: 

a. A clear idea of the actual results to be expected 
from church music—the blueprints of the final goal 
of effort. 

b. The correct methods to be used—the machinery to be 
installed. 

c. Contagious feeling, aggressive force and spiritual 
energy—the power house. 

d. Intelligent management—the overhead control. 


6. Mustic’s ContTRIBUTION TO CHURCH EFFICIENCY 


Music contributes to the efficiency of the church 
service : 

a. By making it attractive. It should increase the at- 
tendance and so enlarge the opportunity of helpfulness. 

b. It predisposes to hospitality of mind, creating a 
readiness to accept the religious ideas and impressions 
offered in the course of the meeting. ‘To do this it must 
be pleasing, appealing to the taste of the particular people 
whom it is intended to attract. But it must conform to 
the ideals of church service held by those who listen. The 
hearer may enjoy “jazz” on secular occasions, but be 
outraged by it in a church service. On the other hand. he 
may delight in the demand made on his intelligence, his 
dramatic instinct, and his critical musical taste by the 
music of a symphony concert, and feel disturbed by it in 
his religious meditations. Hence not academic standards, 
nor ideal tastes, but the actual religious appeal to the per- 
sons to be attracted is the criterion of value. 


EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH MUSIC 21 


c. Music creates a greater psychical, mental, emotional 
and spiritual unity in the aggregation of individual units 
composing the congregation. It serves as a catalyst which 
causes the atoms of human individuality to cohere. 

Music concentrates the attention of all on one common 
experience. Distracting individual cares and anxieties, or 
wishes and imaginations, give place to the common im- 
pression made by the music. They share the quasi- 
emotional nervous effect produced by it. It prepares the 
way for the crowd psychology which displaces the indi- 
vidual psychology and acts upon the feelings, impulses 
and motives that are common to all, more or less elimi- 
nating inhibitions and restraints that check individual 
action. The congregation becomes a composite of all its 
individuals, like the composite picture of a class or group 
of people. 

Music supplies a common physical exhilaration and a 
common nervous stimulus, both particularly intensified by 
united participation in the congregational singing. This 
shows itself in deeper breathing and hurried heart action, 
made visible by brightening of the eyes, flushing of the 
face, and general excitement. 

The music used must have emotional value adapted to 
the range of feelings a religious service is intended to 
develop and express. Not common thoughts, but common 
feelings unite a miscellaneous crowd of people. 

d. Music stimulates the mind, makes it more responsive 
to the instruction given and to the appeal made to the 
imagination or to the feelings. This is due to the in- 
creased heart action, the flooding of the brain and of the 
nervous system with blood, producing greater mental 
activity and a more responsive nervous susceptibility. 
Music, therefore, makes a valuable vehicle of instruction, 
as in didactic hymns or pedagogical verses, or the like. 


22 INTRODUCTION 


It is even more helpful in association with inspirational 
or hortatory hymns, or with services of that general 
characteristic. 

e. By this peculiar nervous stimulus, given to the mind, 
music prepares the way for religious emotion. 

It overcomes the nervous inertia and the mental indif-- 
ference, so that there is a greater susceptibility and a more 
immediate response to the religious appeals of the place 
and hour, thus intensifying the emotional reaction. 

It gives a natural and spontaneous expression to the 
worshipful emotions that grow out of the contemplation 
of the divine perfections, and so helps to clarify and in- 
tensify them. 

It beautifies, actualises, intensifies the worshipful ma- 
terials, the hymns, the Scriptures, the prayers, and so 
makes them more expressive and stimulating. 

Music so intensifies and sublimates personal and social 
emotions as to prepare the way psychologically for the 
action of the Holy Spirit in transforming the nature of 
unbelievers. 

f. Music has great value in creating a general emotional 
atmosphere for a service. There is a general deprecation 
of emotion because the word to so many minds connotes 
violent if not hysterical feeling that is not under proper — 
control. That is a serious misapprehension. There are 
few ideas that do not have some emotion attending them. 
Who has not heard religious emotion objected to in a very 
emotional way?? | 

Emotion is the very life of religion. It is the proof 
that religious ideas have reached the inner man, that 


1“ Tn the face of the critical, materialistic spirit of the age, even 
at the risk of being called sentimental, our churches would do 
well to seek a more habitual warmth of mood in public wor- 
ship.’—Waldo S. Pratt in “ Parish Problems.” 


EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH MUSIC 23 


they have passed from the abstract realm of ideas to 
the concrete realm of conviction. Mere ideas have no 
power over men’s lives until they have been vitalised 
into feelings and thus have reached the will and been 
transformed into character. Faith is not the intel- 
lectual recognition of a demonstrated proposition; the 
accepted idea must be transmuted by feeling and will 
into life. 

g. Music factilstates the emotional contact between the 
abstract truth and the spirit of man, which moves the 
emotions and the volitions. 


7. THE SELECTION OF THE Music 


It will be seen at once that the selection of the music to 
secure the desired results is of prime importance. It will 
be sufficient here simply to emphasise its adaptation to the 
purpose in view, whether mere stimulation, psychical 
unity, inspiration, emotionalisation of truth, or the sol- 
emn act of worship. 


8. THE MusIcAL ORGANISATION OF THE CHURCH 


a. The musical work of the church calls for as careful 
and efficient organisation as does any other enterprise. 
The cogs of the machine should be so fitted into each other 
that there shall be no lost motion. 

b. Just what that organisation should be need not be 
elaborated at this point, as it will be discussed more or less 
minutely throughout this treatise. Only one fundamental 
element calls for consideration here—the place and work 
of the pastor. 


9. Tur Pastor SHouLtp BE THE ExEcuTIVE Heap 


a, The Pastor 1s the Head of the Music. The pastor of 
a church is its executive head, the ex-officio head, there- 


24 INTRODUCTION 


fore, of its musical activities. This is practically as well 
as theoretically important, for the music is too intimately 
interwoven with all his public efforts not to be under his 
supervision.” 

b. The Pastor Cannot Evade This Responsibility. The 
musically ignorant pastor should not solve his musical 
problems by turning the whole matter over to musical 
subordinates. ‘That is a cowardly evasion of duties that 
only means added troubles and problems and the failure 
of an important part of the church’s forces to function 
properly in securing the final objectives of church ef- 
fort The real solution is for him to master the 
subject by reading, observation, and even organised 
study, and so to fit himself for the task of an efficient 
supervisor of the musical activities of the church. Really 
this should have been done during his studies in his 
seminary course. 

c. What a Pastor Needs to Know. He need not be an 


“Tt will be said that clergymen and ministers are too ignorant 
of music to undertake any control. That depends on what sort 
of musical knowledge is necessary for the purpose. To under- 
stand the use of music in public service, to know when the tune is 
one people can sing, and one that they have learned, to judge 
what speed is congenial to devotional feeling; to hear when the 
organ is played too loudly; to encourage and direct the assembling 
of the congregation or the choir in its weekly meetings—to do all 
these things, a man does not need to know harmony or play the 
pianoforte."—J. S. Curwen in “Studies in Worship Music.” 
First Series. 

®“ Tow is it possible that the clergyman can sincerely exhort 
the congregation to do their duty in the performance of the 
music if he himself neglects what cannot but be considered a part 
of his duty. It is impossible to believe that the great majority of 
the clergy should not feel the disadvantage of being ignorant of 
that which forms such a considerable and important part of public 
worship.”—Carl Engel in “ Reflections on Church Music.” 


EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH MUSIC 25 


executive musician, either vocally or instrumentally, but 
he should know just how music assists and what style and 
grade of music, or even what particular hymns or choir 
pieces will best serve his purpose. It would be one of the 
happy results of proper musical training in theological 
seminaries if the minister knows more about music in 
general than his musical subordinates. 

Furthermore, he need not assert himself in the purely 
technical side of the music. His subordinates should be 
allowed to teach him the several values of the details of 
rendition, as a railroad president expects reports from his 
engineers or from his legal counsellors. His business is 
to see that the hymn singing by the congregation, the 
music of the choir, the playing of the organist, the solos 
by leading singers, the special music by invited vocalists, 
shall all co-ordinate and function properly in securing the 
stimulating, inspirational, emotional and religious results 
it is his business to obtain. If his eye is not single in 
steadily looking for them, no one else’s will be. 

d. The Pastor Should Supervise the Selection of Music. 
He should select the hymns to be used. He knows what 
the message of the hour is and what hymns will help ex- 
press it. He should have a voice in the selection of the 
tunes, for a poor tune will wreck a good hymn.* He 
should be consulted in the selection not only of anthems, 


*Regarding the minister’s control of the tunes to be sung to 
hymns, Mr. J. S. Curwen quotes Dr. Allon, in his time one of the 
most prominent Nonconformist ministers in London: ‘“ During all 
these years, I chose the tunes as well as the hymns. I have done 
so, in fact, from the first; yet I have never had the slightest 
trouble on that score with our organists or choir masters. It was 
a recognised principle, that the responsibility of every part of the 
worship rested with the minister.” It should be said that for 
many years the somewhat irascible and masterful Dr. Gauntlet, 
the great organist and editor of hymnals, was Dr. Allon’s organist. 


26 INTRODUCTION 


but of solos as well. Even the selection of the organist’s 
voluntaries should be subject to his approval. 

This pastoral supervision should be genial and sympa- 
thetic, not dictatorial or autocratic, taking advice grate- 
fully, as well as giving instructions cordially. It will be 
wise to explain to his musical helpers the general effects 
he wishes to secure, the relation of their numbers to his 
general plan, the reasons why certain suggested music 
fails to fit into his plans. 

e. His Authority Ought Never to Fail. This super- 
vision should not be veiled too much, the pastor’s author- 
ity being always taken for granted by all concerned. At 
no time should the pastor allow his control to lapse 
through indifference or carelessness. His hand must be 
ever on the wheel, steady and unwearied. 


10. INVENTORY oF MUSICAL RESOURCES 


a. Churches Possess Large Unused Musical Resources. 
Few churches know, much less use, all their musical re- 
sources. Their life would be richer and their efforts more 
productive, if these talents were utilised. Their recogni- 
tion and use would benefit the church and develop their 
possessors. A careful inventory of singers and instru- 
mentalists would uncover treasures of helpful ability. 

b. Such an Inventory Would Supply Two Needs. Not 
only would the effectiveness of the public services be 
greatly increased, but its activities would be broadened in 
other lines, such as social and artistic. Incidentally it 
would deepen the interest and quicken the zeal of many 
young people who now are lying fallow.® 


5 As an admirable illustration of the possible thorough organ- 
isation of the music of a church, an extract from a letter from 
Prof. R. Deane Shure, director of music in the Mount Vernon 
Place Methodist Episcopal Church South, Washington, D. C., will 


EFFICIENCY IN CHURCH MUSIC 27 


c. Card Index of Singers. ‘There should be a classified 
card index of all the persons having available voices from 
babyhood to old age, some for membership in the choir, 
some for occasional use, as a baby or as a veteran soloist, 
some for supervision and encouragement with a view to 
their training and development for future use. 

d. Card Index of Instrumentalists. Another index 
should be made of people, young and old, who play the 
organ or piano, or other instrument ; some of them may be 
scheduled for immediate use, as on special occasions, or 
in an improvised orchestra; others should be encouraged 
in taking lessons and be urged to practice faithfully with 
the hope of future usefulness. 


be helpful: “ We have a chorus of eighty voices that sings at both 
Sunday services. They are volunteers and sing the anthems with 
organ accompaniment. To add contrast to the service, and a 
spirit of worship, we have in addition a men’s quartet. that sings 
just before the sermon, unaccompanied. 

“We have also a Junior choir that sings in the Junior church. 
I rehearse them on Saturday morning. We then have a Men’s 
Chorus that sings in prayer meeting each Thursday night. There 
are thirty in the Junior choir and twenty in the men’s chorus. 
The men’s quartet sings with the men’s chorus at the prayer 
meeting. For Epworth League, at 7:00 P. M., I use eighteen 
mixed voices, rehearsing at 6:00 P. M. I have song leaders for 
each department of the Sunday School and a chorus for that 
service made up from the large choir. Music lessons are given in 
voice, piano and organ by the church at regular fees, or gratis, 
developing the musical talent of the church and adding to its 
resources. A monthly concert by the several departments stimu- 
lates interest and the collections help finance the department.” 

From what we know from other sources, this elaborate musical 
organisation is filled with a devout and evangelistic spirit, making 
it spiritually as well as musically successful. 

When Prof. H. Augustine Smith was the director of the music 
at the First Congregational Church of Chicago, he had an even 
more elaborate organisation of his musical forces. 


28 INTRODUCTION 


e. Index of Music Owned by the Church. There 
should also be an index of the music in book and octavo 
form already owned by the church. This should include 
the separate titles of all the numbers in the books. It is 
important that the number of copies of each should also 
be given. It will not be amiss to make a note of the con- 
dition of each issue. ‘The index should also include the 
composer and the time when it was last used. Incidentally 
the proper care and organisation of this music should be 
attended to. 

This index should be easily accessible to the minister 
in order that he may have his resources at command. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. What is an essential preliminary to this discussion? 
2. Why are efficiency tests needful in the study of church music? 
3. Compare efficiency tests in material and spiritual things. 
4. State some difficulties in applying efficiency tests to musical 
* work in the church. 
5. What misconceptions complicate an inventory? 
6. State the three lines of efficiency in church music. 
7. State four factors in securing musical efficiency. 
8. In what seven ways does music contribute to church efficiency ? 
9. Why is an organisation important? 
0. Who is the executive head of the music of any church, and 
why? 
11. Why should the pastor not evade this responsibility ? 
12. What should a pastor know about music? 
13. In what ways should the pastor’s supervision of music be 
manifested? 
14. In what spirit should he exercise this supervision? 
15. Why should he not allow his authority to lapse? 
16. Is a canvass of the musical resources useful? 
17. What records of them should be kept? 


PAR. 
THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


“Tet all things be done decently and in order.” 
—1 Cor. 14: 40. 


I 
THE NEED OF AN ORDER OF SERVICE 


Class Room Suggestions: Elaborate and illustrate still further 
the necessity of an order of service and its psychological basis in 
the reactions of the people to its several exercises. 

Ask each student to furnish an outline of an order of service, 
specifying the purposes of the several types of services. It may 
be interesting to indicate the latter by means of texts of varied 
emotional appeal distributed in slips to the individual students. 
These outlines may then be used in illustration of Chapter Two. 


Supplementary Reading: The literature on this topic is very 
scant, consisting chiefly of incidental hints in books on homiletics 
and pastoral theology. Hoyt’s “ Public Worship for Non-liturgical 
Churches ” (Doran) will be found helpful. 


1. StTupy oF THE ORDER OF SERVICE NEEDFUL 


Before beginning the discussion of the management of 
church music, it is necessary to study its co-ordinate 
factors in the service in order to fully appreciate its rela- 
tion to them. The music is not a thing apart; it influences 
and is influenced by the exercises associated with it. The 
spirit of the whole service, the parts immediately before 
and immediately after its several numbers, all affect the 
general and the individual musical selections made and the 
manner of their management and rendition. Just as a 
minister cannot successfully ignore the musical elements 
of his service and preach regardless of their character and 
influence, so a music director cannot leave out of sight the 
prayers, the Scripture readings, the offering and the ser- 
mon. The several features of the service are not merely 
mechanically associated in time and place, but are linked 
together in spirit and in influence. ‘The need of a study 


31 


32 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


and of an analysis of the order of service at this point is, 
therefore, peremptory. 


2. SOME OrpDER oF ACTION NECESSARY 


The observance of an order of service in religious 
assemblies is spontaneous and instinctive. Wherever 
there is occasion, in thought or in action, to pursue a train 
of thought or a series of actions, the human mind every- 
where, whether savage or civilised, seeks to analyse and 
arrange them in some orderly fashion. Indeed, the rating 
in mental ability and in the civilisation of a people depends 
upon their success in social orderliness. It is a funda- 
mental instinct underlying the effort to understand and 
control human environment; it is the reason of man de- 
manding that his ideas and his actions shall be orderly, so 
that they may be reasonable. 

a. Necessary to Concerted Action. Wherever men are 
associated in action, there must be some defined schedule 
of activities, whether in business, in community activities 
or in religious assemblies. There can be no orderly co- 
operation leading to a definite purpose without one. That 
order must be based on common consent by special agree- 
ment, or on accepted traditions recognised as valid. It 
may be based on the accepted authority of a leader, who 
shall control the order of events to suit his own purpose, 
or on the formulated objective of the associated individ- 
uals. That personal schedule of activities must have re- 
gard to the consensus of opinion in the assembly, or the 
leader will lose his authority; in other words, he can 
rarely be arbitrary or autocratic in his management. 
Even the general of an army must beware of defying the 
common judgment of his soldiers, lest the morale of his 
men should suffer, even if more serious revolts against his 
authority do not occur. 


THE NEED OF AN ORDER OF SERVICE 33 


b. Particularly True in Religious Assemblies. This is 
particularly true in the religious life of men. No matter 
how rude a savage tribe may be, its religious customs are 
consistently formulated and rigidly enforced. Religious 
ceremonies are usually more elaborately developed and 
conscientiously observed than those that are merely social. 
The order of service in a religious dance among savages 
is as detailed and as meticulously observed as that of the 
most elaborate cathedral. 

In a religious assembly there must be a clear under- 
standing of not only what, but also how, it is to be done, if 
the individuals composing it are to rise and sit together, 
and pray, read, or sing together. An order of service of 
some sort, loose or rigid, as the case may be, is inevitable. 
Without it there is wasted effort, a chaos of futile 
endeavour. 


3. ACCEPTED ORDERS OF SERVICE FUNDAMENTALLY 
CorrECcT 


In the consideration and analysis of accepted orders of 
religious services, it may be taken for granted that they 
are fundamentally correct in their psychological basis. 
These traditional orders of service have a good many 
strong points. In a general way, the audience knows 
about what to expect and is able to adjust its state of mind 
to each successive feature. The very inevitableness of the 
succession of numbers effects a calming serenity, a steadi- 
ness of devotion. There are no severe shocks of unex- 
pected impressions to distract the mind. The service is 
dignified and formal; everything is done decently and 
in order. 

a. Result of Centuries of Experiment. Consciously 
and unconsciously, they have been evolved after gener- 
ations of experiment by the co-operation of competent 


34 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


leaders and by mass instinct and experience. A study and 
analysis of them, item by item, will almost certainly 
justify them psychologically, if the ultimate purpose and 
the mental and moral characteristics of the participants 
are clearly kept in mind. There must be radical changes 
in the mental reactions of a people to warrant their utter 
repudiation. 

b. Needful to Religious Ceremonies. Unless there is a 
carefully ordered method of procedure, there can be no 
calm, dignified, impressive service befitting a religious 
assembly. Wisely elaborated and properly managed, a 
ceremonial is always impressive, even if its symbolism is 
not understood, whether it be in pagan temple, in Masonic 
lodge, under cathedral arches, or in a modest, wayside 
chapel. A baptismal or christening service, or the Lord’s 
Supper, will hush and impress an otherwise most indiffer- 
ent audience, 


4. ContTROLLING IDEAS IN AN ORDER OF SERVICE 


The following are the controlling ideas in the building 
of an order of service: 

a. A clearly defined purpose for the service as a whole.? 
The purpose will control its spirit, its hymns and music, 
its Scriptures, and its prayers, as well as its sermon. 

b. That purpose should unify the service, whether it be 


*“The very thought that a service may be humdrum, that it 
may be a monotone, or in other words may be soporific, is dis- 
tressing. Tennyson’s farmer comes to church, and hears the 
parson droning on—like the buzzing, buzzing of a bee—all the 
same tone, and he goes to sleep. To aim for nowhere is to get 
there! To look forward to a service simply to go through so 
many hymns, prayers, notices, preachings, without a distinct and 
definite objective, is to be ‘up in the air’—is to fail of accom- 
plishment.”—Rev. Prof. Jas. G. K. McClure, D.D., in “The 
Continent.” 


THE NEED OF AN ORDER OF SERVICE 35 


worship, instruction, inspiration, emotional vitalisation of 
religious truth already accepted, or a decisive action of 
the will. 

c. Every feature of the service must contribute in its 
own way to that controlling purpose. 

d. The successive features should make progress and 
should be cumulative in effect, increasing in impressive- 
ness from prelude to hymn after the long prayer and from 
the hymn or anthem before the sermon to the postlude. 

e. This progress of appeal should be based on an 
analysis of the psychological reactions of the several 
features. 


5. Tuer PsycHo,ocIcal, PRoGRESS OF A SERVICE 


a. Arrest of Attention. The very first result to be 
secured is attention, an active turning of the minds of the 
people to what is to be done and said. 

b. Creating Intellectual and Artistic Interest. The 
minds of the people must become actively engaged on the 
features of the service as it proceeds. They must interest 
by their content and please by their manner of presenta- 
tion. ‘There must be mental stimulus and artistic satis- 
faction preliminary to all other impressions. Dullness 
and stupidity in management or speech block the road that 
leads to religious impressions. 

c. Stirring the Emotions. Mere intellectual interest is 
not enough. ‘To convince the hearers with the truth is a 
preliminary essential, of course, but that truth will not 
influence until it has been vitalised by emotion and kindled 
into a conviction. 

d. Wakening the Spiritual Sense. The emotion must 
waken and stimulate the spiritual sense, the power of 
apprehending spiritual realities, rising into a very real 
consciousness of God, into an actual communion with 


36 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


Him. According to their several religious talents, all 
members of the congregation should reach this spiritual 
eminence, if the service is to be accounted effective. 


6. THREE Factors ConpDITION THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


An order of service is not an independent entity, a self- 
sufhcing work of art, but a means to an end. Its value is 
to be measured by its serviceability. That serviceability 
depends (1) on the defined purpose, (2) the adaptation 
to that purpose of the means used, and (3) the character 
of the people to be influenced, whether individually or 
collectively. 

a. No Rigid Order Possible. If this be true, and few 
would venture to deny it, it follows that there can be no 
rigid order of service to be used at all times and every- 
where, for all these factors vary at different times and at 
different places. Even if the usual claim be allowed, that 
the purpose of every service must be worship, that does 
not prevent the great variability of the remaining factors. 
The English service, as heard in Westminster Abbey or in 
some great city church, is magnificent, impressive, awe- 
inspiring, uplifting; but in an obscure, poorly-attended 
village chapel, or in an improvised hotel service at Brus- 
sels, Mainz, or Verona, it becomes a pitiable travesty to 
all but the merely liturgically devout. 

b. Order Depends on Purpose. But there are other 
purposes in religious assemblies than that of worship, im- 
portant as that is. The chief objective may be inspira- 
tional, or didactic, or even semi-secular. A subordinate 
worshipful element may be recognised in all of these, as 
helpful in surrounding the main objective with an ele- 
vating, dignifying religious atmosphere; but the main pur- 
pose must greatly affect the order and the nature of the 
service. Even where a type of service is justified in a 


THE NEED OF AN ORDER OF SERVICE 387 


given congregation by its available resources and by its 
character, it does not follow that that type should be ex- 
clusively used or rigidly followed, for there are varied 
purposes to be served by different services. The variety 
of leading purposes still demands a variety of orders of 
service. Is it the regular worshipful morning service for 
the established Christians? Is it a popular evening 
service to secure the attendance of indifferent members or 
of outsiders? Is it a special evangelistic service to enable 
scholars in the Sunday-school to publicly register their 
acceptance of Christ? Is it part of an evangelistic cam- 
paign to win definitely the unsaved people who are more 
or less closely associated with the congregation by family 
or social ties, or by habits of church attendance? Is it to 
be a rally of persons interested in local moral reforms, or 
a call to the community to meet some signal moral or 
religious crisis? Every one of these calls for its own type 
of service. 

c. Order Depends on Available Resources. Then again 
the features of the service must depend on the resources 
at hand. Great choral and instrumental effects, such as 
awe the hearers in a great cathedral, are impossible where 
only a little reed organ and untrained voices are available. 
The means at hand must be made the most of for the pur- 
pose in view. Fortunately in such cases, the susceptibility 
to impressiveness is usually in inverse ratio to the means 
at hand. 

d. Order Depends on the Character of the Congrega- 
tion. ‘The order of service, and the means to be used in 
realisation of its purpose, must greatly depend on the 
persons constituting the congregation. Not only are there 
differences of taste and culture to be considered, but types 
of mind and character as well. Some communities, by 
natural tendency, by life-long habit, by traditional in- 


38 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


fluence, are extremely susceptible to a liturgical and sym- 
bolical service. The responsive prayers and readings, the 
genuflexions, the burning candles, the swaying censer, the 
elaborate ceremonies, the occasional burst of organ music, 
the symbolism of architecture, sculpture, and painting, 
appeal to them strongly. The less imaginative, more 
abstract, matter-of-fact attendants at the Nonconformist 
Chapel, are not impressed but repelled by these to them 
meaningless gestures, and the order of service to reach 
them must be simple, severe, without spectacular distrac- 
tions to their devout minds. 

From this survey it will be seen that there can be no 
one rigid order of service, but that all accepted forms can 
be justified if they serve the ultimate purpose of a service 
in the nation, or the community, in which they are used. 
The High Church liturgical service and the loose, oppor- 
tunist Salvation Army meeting may alike find psycholog- 
ical and religious justification. 


7. Two Servicks Kaco SUNDAY wItH LIKE ORDER OF 
SERVICE Is UNWISE 


To have two services every Sunday with exactly the 
same order is to forego the attraction of variety, is to be 
resourceless and stupid. That it is so common does not 
mitigate but rather deepen the offense. The rigid adher- 
ence to a traditional order of service has no religious 
basis; it is tradition gone to seed. In the liturgical 
churches, the order is constantly varied by the observance 
of various seasons and feast days with a complicated 
variety that leads an outsider to thumb his prayer-book in 
despair. But the contemners of liturgy are often bound 
with extra-liturgical fetters to a mechanical order that al- 
lows for no variation. Not only do the poppies wave over 
those who rest in Flanders’ Field, but the same flower of 


THE NEED OF AN ORDER OF SERVICE 39 


deadly routine waves over the sleepers in many of our 
churches which still have embroidered on their bulletin 
banners the somnolent slogan of “the usual services ”! 


8. Tur Faurts oF A RiciIp ORDER OF SERVICE 


A rigid order of service has the faults of its virtues. 
Its inevitableness becomes mechanical. The grinding of 
the machine submerges the voice of the Spirit. The suc- 
cessful carrying out of the order becomes the final purpose 
of the service. The calm serenity becomes passivity of 
spirit. The “usualness ” dulls attention and puts interest 
to sleep. Routine lays her heavy hand on preacher and 
people alike and there are eyes that see not, and ears that 
hear not, and a voice that speaks but does not voice ef- 
fectively the needed message for the hour. 


9, How To PRESERVE ITS VALUES 

But it is not necessary to lose the values of the tradi- 
tional order of service: 

a. Its Several Items Can Be Vitalised. In the first 
place it can be revitalised by freshening up its individual 
parts, making them striking and interesting, and, above 
all, spiritual. The idea of a controlling purpose can be 
impressed on his co-workers by the preacher and made 
clear by his aggressiveness of spirit in the general service 
and by the evident purposefulness of his discourse. 

b. Its Items Can Be Transposed or Replaced. Again, 
its general features can be preserved, and its psycholog- 
ical values retained, without danger of falling into “ usual- 
ness.” Some of the less important features may be 
replaced by others more striking or some new items may 
be added outright. There can be a transposition in their 
order as well as a greater effort to make them interesting. 
The alert-minded minister and his efficient co-workers will 


4.0 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


be surprised to note what varied additions and transfor- 
mations and effective transpositions can be introduced into 
the regular service without in any way shocking the 
devotees of the traditional. In any case, at any cost, in 
every legitimate way the “usual” service should be dis- 
placed as unpsychological and futile. 


10. EVENING AND SPECIAL SERVICES HAVE ORDER OF 
THEIR OWN 


When it comes to evening and other special services 
with a definite and clearly-formulated purpose, the regular 
order of service must be abandoned. Of course, the psy- 
chological basis must be retained, but the new complex of 
purpose, method, and people must have its right of way, 
producing a great variety of features in varying combina- 
tion. ‘Tradition is outlawed, because it has no contribution 
to make to the new practical orders of service. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. Why is study of the order of service needful? 

. What are the considerations that emphasise the need of an 

order of service? 

. Are the accepted orders of service psychologically correct? 

4. What three factors condition the serviceability of an ordeg, 
of service? 

5. What steps should mark the psychological progress of a 
service? 

6. What are the controlling ideas in formulating an order of 
service? 

7. Why is a rigid order of service impracticable? 

8. How does the purpose of a service affect its order? 

9. Give two reasons why a city and a village church cannot 
observe rigidly the same order. 

10. Why should not the morning and the evening service be alike? 

11. What are the faults of a rigid order of service? 

12. How can these faults be met? 

13. When should the regular order of service be abandoned? 


nN 


Go 


II 


THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE STANDARD 
ORDER OF SERVICE 


Class Room Suggestions: The outlines suggested in the pre- 
vious chapter should be freely used in illustration of the present 
and succeeding chapters, pointing out the successes as well as the 
failures of the several items. The impression made will eminently 
repay the extra trouble. 


1. Its SuprposED SANCTITY 


Most ministers accept the regular order of service as 
they do the Ten Commandments. They have it printed 
and pasted into the pulpit hymnal, lest they, or their 
confréeres with whom they exchange pulpits, should go 
astray. Many of them give careful attention to the indi- 
vidual items, but rarely study the philosophy of the whole 
or that of the order of sequence. 

Not accepting it as sacro-sanct, or as under a prohibi- 
tion of change as inviolable as that of the book of Revela- 
tion, let us study it and its effects from a psychological 
point of view." 


2. Its Two Divisions 


The theoretically accepted division of the service into 
the devotional and the instructional is actually realised by 
few preachers, since they frequently trespass on the 
opening worship with hymns and Scriptures and even 


It should be said that this is a psychological study of the 
human side of a church service. The presence and influence of 
the Holy Spirit in the service are taken for granted. 


41 


42 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


prayers, that bear almost exclusively on the topic of the 
sermon. 

The first half of the service, to the end of the “long 
prayer,” at least, should be purely worshipful; it should 
belong to God. The second half should not lack the wor- 
shipful attitude, but should be inspirational, instructional ; 
it should belong to the assembled people. The sermon is 
not the dominating force of the whole service, but simply 
a coordinate item, an important help to the purpose of the 
divine worship which is the foundation of the whole 
service ! 


A. THE DEVOTIONAL SECTION 


1. Tur ReELicious ATTITUDE OF THE CONGREGATION 
AT THE OPENING 


What is the existing situation when the service begins? 
The audience has gathered, bringing with it the thoughts 
and mental attitudes of their ordinary life, except that 
they are somewhat relaxed in mind and nerves. The body 
of the audience is religiously passive as it enters, the gre- 
garious instinct being much to the fore as they meet 
friends and acquaintances at the door and even continue 
their conversations in adjacent pews. That there is some 
consciousness of the place and of the occasion is manifest 
from their whispers or their silence. The ideas of sacred- 
ness associated with the auditorium make only a slight 
impression, for it is used for so many secular and semi- 
secular occasions that there is little opportunity for awe; 
moreover, most of our Protestant places of worship are 
so bare of religious symbolism in decoration, and differ 
so little from secular halls, that religious ideas are not 
forced on the attention of the attendants. 

We find the mass of the assembled congregation at best 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 438 


in a state of passive receptivity, the more devout element 
being neutralised by a considerable number of persons 
still absorbed in purely secular interests. 


2. Tur EFFECT oF THE PRELUDE 


Upon these poised spirits there suddenly break the notes 
of the prelude from the organ. The congregation hushes ; 
its nerves are either calmed by soft, sweet music or stimu- 
lated by strong, heavily harmonic, perhaps even markedly 
rhythmical music. Even if the music has no religious 
significance aside from its style, it gives the keynote, the 
fundamental emotional basis on which the whole succeed- 
ing service is to be built. 

a. The Nervous Effect of the Prelude. The wise 
organist will rarely shock his listeners by a loud, aggres- 
sive beginning, no matter how inspiring the service as a 
whole may be planned to be. He will calm and quiet the 
people’s nerves and vaguely indicate the withdrawal of 
their thoughts from the world. If the service is to be a 
quiet, meditative one, or comforting in its nature, he will 
continue in the same quiet mood. If it is to be a service 
of inspiration, it should presently develop more animation 
and movement, modulating the congregation’s nerves and 
feelings to a higher key of aggressiveness. By coupling 
together two voluntaries, the one quiet, the other brilliant, 
the desired effect can be secured. 

b. The Selection of the Prelude. The general spirit of 
the whole proposed service will control the selection of 
the prelude, subject only to the greater or less need of 
quieting incoming persons and covering the inevitable 
noise they make. 

Solo stops, if used with discretion, will be useful. 
Brilliant technical passages or compositions will never 
be in order in the prelude, if ever anywhere in the 


44, THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


service. People gather in church to admire God, not the 
organist. 

That the prelude should be at least churchly in style, 
hardly needs emphasis. A service opened by a purely 
secular number, whether popular or artistic, recalls the 
very secular state of mind it is intended to dispel, and for 
many people ruins the religious value of all the exercises 
that follow. Familiar things like “’Traumerei” and 
Rubinstein’s “ Melody in F” have been played so much 
in picture shows that they have been ruined for church 
use. The prelude must not bring up “ movie ” memories. 
A fugue from Bach or a movement from Rheinberger may 
be as bad as an echo from the restaurant orchestra in its 
banning of religious impressions. 

It should be noted that secular suggestiveness may come 
from the unfortunate registration used by the organist. 
To use bizarre, spectacular combinations of stops, such as 
are heard from “movie” organs, is to attract attention, 
but not the right sort of attention; it will create interest, 
but not religious interest.* 

The preacher, therefore, is not outside his terrain, or 
exceeding his authority, when he asks to confer with the 
organist regarding the prelude and to supervise its selec- 
tion and even its registration.® 


?“Tt is doubtful whether the precise style of prelude that shall 
do these things can be defined with any exactness. I rather 
believe that many useful styles are possible, varying with the 
player, with the congregation, and with the occasion. But a few 
practical points may be suggested. ... Its style should rarely be 
so ornate or florid as to attract special attention to the player’s 
dexterity or the composer’s ingenuity. It should be more emo- 
tional than learned, more sweet and solemn than boisterous and 
loud, more noble than amazing.”—W. S. Pratt in “ Musical Min- 
istries in the Church.” 

* Rev. Prof. Cleland B. McAfee, D.D., than whom the American 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 45 


If the prelude has any religious significance or purpose, 
it should be definitely recognised as a part of the service 
and its value exploited. ‘The minister should be in his 
place before it begins, as an example to his people, and not 
join late-comers in distracting the attention of the punctual 
worshippers by conspicuously entering the pulpit in the 
midst of it. The minister should set a noble example of 
attention to the organ prelude as a part of the service. It 
is not mere music, it is worship. To be inattentive to it is 
to miss needed nervous and emotional preparation for the 
other parts of the service that follow.* 

If his people persist in talking, or whispering, or enter- 
ing noisily and indecorously, it may be wise in a kindly 
and genial way to impress them with the devout char- 
acter of the opening music. One minister, whose people 
had been thoughtless, rose in the pulpit as the church bell 
ceased ringing and solemnly announced that the worship 
of God would begin with a prelude by the organist. His 
people saw the point without a single word of explanation 
and the prelude was given its opportunity to prepare 
the people. 


church never produced a better builder of church services, in an 
article on church music, says, ‘The voluntary (he refers to the 
prelude) ought to be selected with reference to the general mood 
which the service is intended to express. It was my custom to say 
to the organist that we wanted to have a forte service, or a piano 
service, as the need might be.” 

* The following statement appears in the calendar of the Temple 
Church of Los Angeles, Cal., of which James Whitcomb Brougher 
is pastor: “ Worship with the organ, for its great voice calls you 
to silence. When the organ responds to the master touch of the 
musician, it calls you to sense the dignity, majesty, and again, the 
tenderness of a loving God. Whispering and restlessness during 
the organ voluntary is disrespectful to the organist and destructive 
to the worship which begins with the first note.” 


46 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


3. Tur CHorr PrRockssIonAL 


The prelude may be followed by a processional hymn 
into which the prelude smoothly modulates. While better 
adapted to a liturgical service, the processional may find 
excellent occasional use for festival services. Its impres- 
siveness rapidly decreases with constant use. A piano or 
reed organ in the choir room tuned with the church organ 
will assure accuracy of pitch. If neither of these is avail- 
able, open doors and passages should enable the sound of 
the church organ to reach the choir room, giving the pitch 
clearly without disturbingly increasing the force of the 
instrument. ‘The procession should not cover too long a 
distance or it will presently bore rather than inspire. 


4. Tue IntTROIT BY THE CONGREGATION OR BY 
THE CHOIR 


So far the religious impressions made by the original 
impulse to attend divine worship, by the church and its 
associations, and by the prelude, are very vague, depend- 
ing greatly on what the individual brings to the service. 
The mind of the average attendant may be said to be at 
best only prepared to consider religious ideas. 

In many services the Long Meter Doxology invariably 
follows the prelude. Indeed, many organists have ac- - 
quired the habit of modulating by their own extemporisa- 
tion, or with the help of published modulations, from the 
key of the prelude into the key of G in which the “ Old 
Hundredth ” is written, and so of passing directly from 
the voluntary to the standard tune. This is undoubtedly 
very much better than to let down the interest by making 
a break of a minute or two. 

a. The Value of the Long Meter Doxology. There is 
much to be said in favour of the use of the Doxology. It 
strikes the religious note clear and strong. It recognises 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 47 


the fundamental convictions of the orthodox Christian 
church. It is notably worshipful in word and spirit. The 
accepted tune, “ Old Hundredth,” is dignified (unless it 
is raced through in a vulgar, unmusical way) ; being well 
known by all, it can be sung by a great or a small congre- 
gation spontaneously, without any distracting conscious- 
ness of musical difficulties. 

b. Is the Opening Use of the Doxology Advisable? 
But the question arises, is the average congregation ready 
for a spontaneous and genuine acceptance of so elevated 
an expression of worship? There is no doubt that some 
congregations of a high religiousness would be fully pre- 
pared to do so. But it is a question of the average rather 
conventionally religious assembly. 

Then there is the consideration, if the service begins 
on so high a plane of devotion, whether there is capacity 
for further steady progress towards a higher peak of 
devotional spirit. Is there not danger of the fatal 
anti-climax ? 

c. The Gloria Patri or Introit by the Choir. In most 
congregations, it may be wiser to follow the prelude with 
an appropriate introit by the choir, a setting of some 
Scripture call to worship, such as “ The Lord is in His 
Holy Temple,” or “ Oh, Come, Let Us Worship and Bow 
Down,” or “God is a Spirit and They That Worship 
Him, etc.” The “ Gloria Patri”? may be sung by the con- 
gregation. While theoretically what has been said of the 
Long Meter Doxology applies to it as well, it is not so 
elevated in style either in text or music and practically 
not so impressive. Both may well be left to some more 
climacteric point of the service. 

d. The Principle of Selection. Whether the Long 
Meter Doxology, the Gloria Patri or an introit by the 
choir shall follow the prelude will depend on the desired 


48 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


spirit of the coming service. There should be no in- 
variable use of the Doxology, or the singing of it will 
degenerate into a merely mechanical exercise. 

e. The Anthem as an Introit. In some churches the 
choir follows the prelude with an anthem. If the anthem 
is carefully selected in its relation to the service as a 
whole, this may be a wise arrangement. The prelude has 
announced the emotional proposition before the house, the 
anthem may formulate the religious content and purpose to 
be considered. Perhaps in no other way can such a wide 
variety of religious feeling and sentiment be suggested. 

However, what has been said concerning the Long 
Meter Doxology may be applied to the use of the anthem. 
If it is extremely emotional or brilliantly spectacular it 
will likely find the people unprepared for its appeal. 
Only if the anthem has a short, didactic text, and calming 
music, is it likely to strike the needed note. 


5. THE INVOCATION 

Introducing the service with prelude and anthem, how- 
ever, shuts out the invocation. Altogether too many min- 
isters are themselves not sufficiently tuned up emotionally 
to make the invocation anything but a perfunctory, me- 
chanical conventionality. If the preacher is warmed up 
by his previous private devotions, he may make it a 
marked worshipful advance on all that has gone before, 
and lift his people into a realisation of the divine presence. 
Unless he can do that, he had better omit it as a possible 
stumble at the foot of the Great White Throne. 


6. ‘THE First CoNGREGATIONAL HyMN 
If prelude, doxology, or introit by the choir, and invo- 
cation have made their proper contribution, the congrega- 
tion will have the impulse to express in a hymn the 
religious feelings that have been generated. 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 49 


a. It Should Express Recognition of the Divine Per- 
fecttons. If not a direct hymn of praise, there should at 
least be recognition of the divine nature and its infinite 
perfections. It may be majestic and elevated in praise, 
earnest and intense with implicit faith, eager with grati- 
tude and appreciation for blessings received, tender with 
memories of divine sympathy in trouble, depending upon 
the type of service decided upon; but in every selection of 
hymn there should be recognition and consciousness of 
God and delight in personal relation with him. 

b. The Selection of the Tune is Important. ‘The tune 
is almost as important as the hymn, for without the 
proper tune the hymn has little value. The tune should 
be appropriate to the text, and well known to the congre- 
gation, or at least to the singers in it,—the choir, and the 
minor musical organisations who have rehearsed it in 
their meetings. An absolutely unknown tune should never 
be used at this point. If the hymn is to help the people, 
the people must sing it. 

c. The Effect to Be Expected from the Hymn. If the 
hymn is properly introduced and led, the tide of religious 
emotion and interest should rise from verse to verse. 
This first hymn is at the same time an index of the value 
of what has preceded it and a valuable agent in lifting the 
spiritual temperature of the service. The preacher has a 
right to expect more results from this hymn than from 
any preceding exercise. 


7. THE RESPONSIVE READING 


By this time the psychical unification of the assembly 
ought to be measurably complete, its hearty co-operation 
won, the religious interest well developed and the devout 
attitude established. 

a. The Responsive Reading Should Be Devotional, Not 


50 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


Didactic. The responsive reading which follows should 
be devotional and worshipful and not didactic. The 
Psalms, aside from the imprecatory ones, many passages 
in the prophets, inspiring manifestations of God’s leader- 
ship and help in the historical books of the Old Testament, 
and many pans of adoration from Paul’s epistles and 
the Book of Revelation are admirably adapted to this use. 

b. The Sources Other Than the Psalter. ‘The respon- 
sive readings bound up with most of our church hymnals 
are usually excellent, but if Bibles are in every pew, it 
will add fresh interest, break up the somewhat conven- 
tional attitude of both minister and people, and add rich- 
ness and variety to this important part of the service, to 
choose other portions of the Scriptures. There should be 
absolutely no reference to the topic of the discourse in 
this selection; but there should be the closest harmony 
with its spirit. 

c. When the Congregation Fails to Respond. In many 
congregations this responsive exercise is practically a fail- 
ure. The interest already won ebbs out, as only scattered 
persons participate. One of three things must be done: 
(1) quietly, steadily, unobtrusively, to train the congre- 
gation to take part, making sure that hymnals and Bibles 
are accessible to every person; (2) to arrange to have the 
choir read the responses; (3) or the minister himself must 
read the entire passage in an effective way. 

d. How to Build It Up. ‘The psychological and spirit- 
ual value of the responsive reading is so great that where 
it is not hearty, pains should be taken to build it up. Even 
where a congregation is largely feminine and the body of 
sound is not inspiring, the personal participation is very 
helpful. There are many ways in which it can be im- 
proved. A discussion of the form of the Psalms may well 
emphasise the responsive character of the Hebrew wor- 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 51 


ship and its value then and now. There may or may not 
be a direct reference to the immediate duty of the congre- 
gation present to join in the exercise. Ultimately it may 
become necessary to do so, but never in a spirit of sharp 
criticism. Genial pressure does the work. It may be 
wise to make it a subject of private discussion and even 
of admonition. The value of successful responsive read- 
ing is so great, that such a campaign to build it up is worth 
all that it costs. 

The responsive reading may be followed by the singing 
of the Gloria Patri by the congregation with excellent 
effect, as it gives the consummate note of devotion to the 
exercise. 


8. Tur ANTHEM By THE CHOIR, OR THE SOLO 

a. It Must Have Spiritual Value. ‘The attention of the 
people being fully won and their mental and spiritual in- 
terest stimulated by participation in two consecutive exer- 
cises, there will be opportunity to use either a short 
anthem by the choir or a solo. In either case, there should 
be a distinctly spiritual message in a well enunciated 
text. A merely musical number with a vapid, shallow, 
sentimental text without devotional stimulus or relation 
to the worship of a church service, may dissipate all the 
acquired momentum. 

b. The Instrumental Solo Will Not Function Here. 
The same is even more true of any instrumental solo; it 
has no message; the interest it excites is not spiritual, but 
neutralises the devotional attitude already secured. 

Unless something worth while devotionally and dis- 
tinctly worshipful is available, better drop out this number 
of the service entirely and proceed to the “ long prayer.” 


9, Tue Lone PRAYER 
It is not within the province of this work to discuss 


52 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


exhaustively the preacher’s effort to lead his people into 
the very presence of God and become the spokesman there 
of their adoration and their gratitude, of their personal 
sorrows and needs, and of their interest in the welfare of 
their fellow creatures. 

a. Should Be Characterised by Worship. It will not be 
amiss, however, in line with the emphasis that has been 
placed on the worshipful character of the preceding exer- 
cises, to insist that that prayer shall be distinctly an ex- 
pression of delight in the infinite perfections of God, of 
sheer adoration and praise, as well as of thanksgiving for 
numberless mercies conferred. Human interests and 
needs are apt to obscure the pure worship of God. 

b. It Should Be the High Peak of Religious Interest. 
This prayer should be the climax of worship, of con- 
sciousness of God, of acceptance of his high sovereignty, 
of utter consecration to his service. The people ought to 
be lifted out of the pettiness of their usual earthly 
thoughts and selfish desires into the wider horizons that 
stretch before the sons of God,—his temporal as well as 
eternal comrades. 

c. Should It Close With the Lord’s Prayer? There are 
prayers of such a unity and elevation of spirit, that to add 
the Lord’s Prayer as a mere mechanical tag would be a 
grievous error. Other prayers lead up to it in feeling so 
effectively, that it would be an equally grievous error to 
omit it. In any case, it should not degenerate into a mere 
habit or be invariably introduced by the same stale me- 
chanical formula. Sometimes it may be sung by the choir 
as a response. 


10. THE SEcoND CoNGREGATIONAL Hymn 


a. It ts the Climax of the Devotional Section. For the 
people themselves this hymn will be the climax of the 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE = 53 


whole service up to that moment and the selection of the 
hymn and its tune should be made with exceeding care, 
lest there be an unfortunate anti-climax. | 

b. It is Better Than an Anthem at This Point. In many 
orders of service an anthem follows the prayer. Average 
anthems, as they are ordinarily sung, are distinctly anti- 
climacteric. Some noble anthems of worship, impres- 
sively, and, what is even more important, sincerely sung, 
may sometimes serve the purpose at this point of the 
service, but, generally speaking, a good hymn is much 
more effective psychologically and spiritually. 

c. The Second Hymn Should Still Be Worshipful. 
The mistake is often made of selecting a hymn bearing 
on the subject of the discourse. The preacher sees the 
connection, but the people do not. ‘The logical relation, 
therefore, has no value. The congregation is in a wor- 
shipful mood, if the previous exercises have been success- 
ful in their purpose. This hymn after the prayer should 
be the people’s opportunity to express their devout mood, 
and its urge should not be defeated by asking them to sing 
a more or less didactic hymn. 


11. Tur INTRUSION oF THE Dinpactic INTo THE 
DEVOTIONAL SECTION IS UNFORTUNATE 


In some services the preacher refers to the topic of the 
hour in the prayer or even reads the Scripture bearing 
upon it before the long prayer. ‘This seems rather illog- 
ical, for the passages in the prayer are usually practical 
applications_or devotional corcllaries of the topic, which 
should be left to the closing moments of the sermon and 
to the following prayer. The announcements and the 
offering separate the Scriptures bearing upon the subject 
of the discourse from the discourse itself and so discount 
their intellectual value. Besides, the people do not know 


54 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


the topic and hence cannot see the connection; moreover, 
they are logically out of place in the purely worshipful 
division of the service. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. What are the two divisions of the accepted order of service? 

. What is the relation of the sermon to it? 

. What is the mental condition of attendants at opening of 

service? 

4, What is the purpose of the prelude? 

. Explain the nervous effect of the prelude. 

6. What principles should govern the selection of the music of 
the prelude? 

7. Should the preacher concern himself with the selection of the 
prelude? 

8. How should the prelude be received by preacher and people? 

9. State the value and use of the processional. 

10. What is the immediate purpose of the introit? 

11. Is the use of the Long Meter Doxology advisable as an 
introit? 

12. What other music is available for the introit? 

13. State the value of an effective invocation. 

14. Why sing a hymn after the invocation? State the nature of 
the appropriate hymn, 

15. State why the tune is important. 

16. What should be the nature and the sources of the responsive 
reading? 

17. How can it be built up where the congregation fails to 
respond? 

18. Why should an anthem or solo follow the responsive reading ? 

19. What should be the character of the long prayer? 

20. Why should a congregational hymn follow? 

21. Why should the topic of the sermon not intrude up to this 
point? 


w&w KN 


on 


III 


THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE STANDARD 
ORDER OF SERVICE (Conciupep) 


Class Room Suggestions: In considering the suggestions for 
additional features in the order of service, draw out from the 
students others not mentioned here and test them out, applying 
the psychological principles that have been emphasised. It may 
enrich the liturgical resources of the students. It certainly will 
develop their critical acumen. 


B.; THE DIDACTIC SECTION 


1. THe ANNOUNCEMENT AND OFFERTORY 


a. These Are Not Necessarily Distracting. If the spir- 
itual interest up to this point has been what it ought to be, 
there will be no harm done by the introduction of the 
announcements and the offertory. Care should be taken 
that the intellectual interest be sustained in this more 
practical part of the service. To relegate the announce- 
ments to a bulletin is eminently wise, for it minimizes the 
force of the interruption. 

b. The Offertory Should Be Made More of a Devo- 
tional Exercise Than it Usually is. Instead of the set 
introductory phrase, ‘“ we will now worship God in the 
offering,” it might be well to vary the introduction by a 
few sentences of fresh and striking comment on the spirit 
as well as the duty of giving to the Lord. It is the sacri- 
ficial element in the service and should be raised out of its 
material, financial plane into an actually worshipful act. 
It might be effective to ask the congregation to rise for the 
dedicatory prayer. 

c. The Offertory Accompaniments. The offertory 


55 


56 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


prayer, if genuine and earnest, omitting the distracting 
and theatrical accompaniment of organ music, will raise 
the spiritual interest. ‘The organ offertory will cover up 
the inevitable passing of the plates or baskets and bridge 
over the slightly demoralising hiatus. 

If the congregation is large, a solo or duet may pres- 
ently be sung to contribute to the new ascent of spiritual 
interest among those who have already been waited upon. 
In some congregations the Long Meter Doxology is sung 
at the close of all the offertory exercises with excellent 
effect. 


2. Tur ScrRIPTURE READING 


The offertory music has served not only to sustain the 
interest, but to prepare the way for the Scripture read- 
ing by the pastor. This definitely begins the didactic 
section of the service. It supplies not only the back- 
ground but also the authority for the sermon, bearing on 
its theme as definitely as may be possible. But why not 
state that theme, so that the congregation may see the 
connection ? 

The effective elocution of the reading ought not only to 
strengthen the upward swing of interest, both intellectual 
and devout, but to initiate the new mental attitude of 
receptivity to spiritual truth. The religious emotion of the 
first section yields the primacy to the religious instruction - 
of the second. 


3. Tur Curr ANTHEM BY THE CHOIR 


Continuing the renewed upward trend already started — 
by the offertory solo and the Scripture reading, the leading 
anthem of the hour should be sung by the choir. Its 
chief mission is inspiration, keying up and stimulating the 
nervous, mental, and spiritual energies of the preacher for 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 57 


the delivery of his message, and of the people for the ap- 
prehension and acceptance of the truth. Its text may be 
didactic, in harmony with the teaching that is about to be 
given, but not necessarily so.+ 


4, THE SERMON 


The sermon does not belong to our consideration, of 
course. It is sufficient to say that in case it is made up of 
desicated materials, the peak of interest of the whole 
service remains with the hymn after the prayer. 


5. Tut Hymn AFTER THE SERMON 


But if the sermon is clear in thought, devout in 
purpose, aflame with earnestness, profound in convic- 
tion, impressive in diction and delivery, gripping the 
audience with vital force, and is closed with a prayer 
that kindles all the practical applications of the sermon 
into the white heat of conviction and decision in the hearts 
of the hearers,? the supreme height of interest, mental 


1“ Even when the enunciation of the singers is clear, it is an 
excellent plan to have the text of an anthem announced before- 
hand from the pulpit, particularly if in so doing the minister can 
add a word that shall give it a neater setting in relation to the 
other exercises of the service. Another excellent plan for 
churches whose customs are well settled is to put printed copies 
of the various anthems that form the church’s repertoire into the 
pews and have the anthem announced by number like a hymn.”— 
Waldo S. Pratt in “ Parish Problems.” 

2Dr, McClure, President of McCormick Theological Seminary, 
places the climax of the service in this prayer in his excellent 
article in the “Continent” (February 15, 1923). “‘ Perhaps some 
one will ask, what is the writer’s own idea of the climacteric. The 
answer is this: In the prayer that follows the sermon is to me the 
supreme moment of the service. The pastor has poured out his 
heart to men in the sermon. Now he tries to bring all the hearts 
of his people into one unified, intense approach to God that they 


58 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


and spiritual, will find its full expression in the hymn 
after the sermon. 

This hymn should not be a mere didactic reference to 
the topic, but an emotional summing up of the spiritual 
experiences growing out of the profound contemplation of 
the truth discussed. 


6. THE BENEDICTION 


In some churches there is a silent period of several 
minutes between the final hymn and the benediction, for 
silent prayer. ‘This hush is extremely effective and makes 
the benediction more impressive. 

The devout preacher will not make his benediction a 
merely mechanical repetition of a formula, but in spirit, 
or by fresh expression, he will give a noble end to a 
devout and helpful service. 


7. THE PostTLUDE 


The postlude has come down to us from the music 
played while the celebrants of the ritual retired. The 
congregation remained sitting in reverent silence until it 
ceased. It is even yet not the least important item of the 
service. ‘To look upon it merely as a cover for the noise 
of the departing congregation is to miss its relation to 
what has gone before. 

a. It Often Defeats the Whole Service. Many a post- 
lude has dissipated the devotional value of the whole 
preceding service. The noise, and even chatter, of the 
congregation as it goes out, is bad enough; it is the mis- 


and he together may be enabled to live the precious truths he has 
stated. With this idea of the climacteric in mimd the closing 
prayer cannot be a hurried, attenuated, perfunctory affair, for it 
becomes the great, the consummating, the all-comprehensive por- 
tion of the entire service.” 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 59 


sion of the postlude not to out-racket the racket, but to 
reduce it to its lowest terms, to cover it by carrying over 
the solemnity and devotional feeling that have been 
created, and hushing all but its inevitable confusions, in- 
stead of inciting and stimulating unnecessary noise by its 
sudden onslaught on the ears and nerves of the people. 

b, It ss an Ancient Evil. The noisy postlude, destroyer 
of devotion, neutraliser of all the good effects of a 
service, is constantly inveighed against by all sensible and 
truly religious ministers and lay-men. We find in the 
“ Spectator,” over two hundred years ago, a complaint by 
the none too religious essayist, Richard Steele, that the 
effects of a good sermon were “ dissipated by a merry jig 
from the organ loft.’ 

c. It Should Be in Harmony with the Preceding Serv- 
ice. The postlude should be in the same emotional key 
with the preceding service. A loud, majestic postlude will 
fit a service where a great majestic theme has lifted the 
hearts of the people. A quiet, emotional voluntary will 
fitly close a consolatory, meditative service. 

d. How to Make the Postlude Serve a Religious Pur- 
pose. No, it is not impossible. Just before the benedic- 
tion, let the preacher quietly announce that he has asked 
the organist to play a soft postlude befitting the service 
that has hushed their spirits, and that they should sit and 
listen for a few moments in solemn meditation and prayer, 
and then pass out quietly as the organist plays. 

It may be wise to incorporate the postlude in the service 
by postponing the benediction until after it closes. ‘The 
Long Meter Doxology may then follow the benediction. 
This is not conventional, but it is effective. 

e. Suggestion for Fitting Music for Postlude. If the 
organist’s supply of music does not contain a postlude that 
will properly say its “ Amen” to the foregoing service, 


60 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


why should not an organ transcription of a well known 


sacred song or hymn tune, with simple interludes leading 
to varied and effective registration, serve the purpose? 


Cc. ENRICHMENTS OF THE REGULAR ORDER 
OF SERVICE 
Enough has been said to discourage undue rigidity in 
the order of service. It may be wise to offer some sug- 
gestions regarding possible additions to its exercises, and 
substitutes for, or even omission of, some of them. 


1. RecrtaTIONS BY THE CONGREGATION 


a. The Apostles’ Creed. This is a noble statement of 
the Christian belief and may appropriately be recited in a 
service. In the proper emotional setting it should be very 
impressive. ‘The wise builder of an order of service will 
not use it every Sunday morning. As it is usually recited 
its impressive value is lost and it very soon becomes 
mechanical and stale. 

b. The Ten Commandments. The moral law, as ex- 
pressed in the Ten Commandments, is worthy of a place in 
the dignified service of the church. While it might be 
construed as didactic in nature, it is worshipfully impres- 
sive in its clear expression of God’s claim on the worship 
and obedience of His people. A short response, sung 
after each commandment, and a longer one after the last 
will add interest and impressiveness. 

Still further variations may be secured by reciting the 
First Psalm, the ‘Twenty-third Psalm, the One Hundred 
and Twenty-first Psalm, the Beatitudes, the thirteenth 
chapter of First Corinthians and other well known pas- 
sages. It might stimulate memorising the Scriptures to 
announce each Sunday the passage to be recited the fol- 
lowing Sunday. 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 61 


c. Substitute for Responsive Reading. In place of the 
responsive reading, in a somewhat informal service there 
may be a call for the volunteering of Scripture verses, or 
even passages, quoted from memory. In suggesting this 
excellent exercise, Prof. von Berge says, “I have occa- 
sionally done it in my own work, sometimes merely calling 
for Bible verses that have been ‘tested and proved’ in 
actual experience, sometimes calling for a particular class 
of verses, as e. g., promises.” If the pastor is a little un- 
certain as to the participation of his people, let him ask a 
sufficient number to be prepared. 


2. Tur Usk oF RESPONSES 


Few ministers make full use of the devotional value of 
choir, not to speak of congregational responses. If 
properly rendered, they are very impressive and solemnis- 
ing. Responses after prayer are widely used. Occasion- 
ally one hears an effective response to the benediction. 
But there are other and equally pertinent and impressive 
responses and choral introductions possible. 

a. The Gloria Patri. The Gloria Patri is frequently 
heard after the invocation, sometimes by the choir, more 
effectively by the congregation, after the prelude. It may 
follow the responsive reading. 

b. Choral Introduction or Response to Scripture Read- 
ing. An introductory Scripture sentence may prepare the 
minds of the people for either the Scripture responsive 
reading or for the Scripture lesson. Most ministers will 
prefer to have it follow and take the place of the usually 
perfunctory and wornout phrase, “ May God add His 
blessing to the reading of His word.” Even when this is 
thoughtful and sincere, it usually impresses the hearer as 
a merely conventional ejaculation. 

c. The Choir’s Introduction to the Long Prayer. Sung 


62 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


after the congregation has bowed their heads for the long 
prayer, a choral introduction will deepen the devout feel- 
ing of both the minister and his people and solemnise their 
common approach to the divine presence. 

d. Hymn Response to the Long Prayer. The response 
by the choir after the prayer may then be omitted; the 
succeeding hymn, a hymn of prayer, carefully selected to 
take its place, should be softly sung by the whole congre- 
gation. Properly introduced by the organist’s soft playing 
of the first four measures of the tune and by the sotto 
voce singing of the choir, (which remains seated with 
bowed head,) and of the minister, as an indication that all 
are to softly join, the devotional effect will be most salu- 
tary. One stanza, or at most two, will usually be sufficient. 

e. The Regular Response to the Long Prayer. This re- 
sponse should be sung softly without organ accompani- 
ment. The organist should strike the chord so softly that 
it can be heard only by the choir. A great deal of prac- 
tice will be necessary to make this response effective. 
There must be perfect blending, equality of force on all 
the parts, pure, steady tone without flaws produced by 
little nervous collapses, uniform enunciation, the attack 
and release of every tone being made at the same instant. 
These can be secured only by much and careful rehearsal. 

f. The Offertory Response. The occasional use of an 
offertory response taking the place of the organ voluntary 
or supplementary to it will aid in making the offering a 
more dignified and a more devout exercise. It may even 
take the place of the pastor’s dedication, the ushers stand- 
ing with bowed heads. 

g. The After-Piece. It may be wise occasionally, when 
the choir director has a selection exactly fitting and emo- 
tionally summing up the theme of the sermon and its 
closing application, to have the choir respond with a short 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE __ 63 


after-piece in an effective manner. ‘This should not neces- 
sarily take the place of his closing prayer, although it may 
do so. Certainly it should not displace the closing hymn 
by the congregation.® 

h. The Response to the Benediction. ‘The solemnity of 
the closing moments may be deepened, depending on the 
character of the service, by the singing of the Long Meter 
Doxology by the congregation after the benediction, if the 
service has been joyous and stirring, or of a soft, musical 
echoing of the “ Amen” of the benediction by the choir, 
if it has been quietly devotional and tender. 

t. The Length of the Responses. Aside from the offer- 
tory response, which may be of any length, none of these 
responses should be very extensive. Four to eight meas- 
ures for a response after prayer should be ample, particu- 
larly if the minister and the people are expected to retain 
the attitude of prayer during its singing. If the minister 
resumes his seat and the congregation its normal attitude, 
the response may be longer, but will lose some of its emo- 








* Where the numbers of the choir reinforce the sermons of the 
preacher the best results may be expected. Rev. Dr. W. H. Bates, 
a musical pastor (may their tribe increase!), reported in “The 
Choir Leader” some of his experiences: “I preached a sermon on 
“The Gospel of the Voice,’ Instantly after the prayer following 
the sermon, the soprano soloist sang Woodbury’s ‘If I Were a 
Voice’ most feelingly. A sermon on ‘The Redeemer’ from Job 
9:25 had as a prelude Handel’s ‘I Know That My Redeemer 
Liveth,’ and was followed by McGranahan’s admirable ‘My Re- 
deemer.’ Where choirs preach with the preacher, preaching is 
much more effective. It is well for a minister to be constantly on 
the look-out for music that will specially fit his sermon themes, 
keeping a list of the pieces and then, when occasion occurs, have 
the singers as his assistant preachers.” 

*If responses are too long, part of the congregation will tire 
and straighten up and look about, and usually a general movement 
of restlessness is in evidence, 


64: THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


tonal value, unless of unusual impressiveness. The re- 
sponse of the choir to the benediction should also be 
very short. 

The other suggested responses may be longer, but 
should not exceed sixteen measures, while eight measures 
will be better as a standard, else they will occupy too much 
time and lose their character as responses. 

j. All These Responses Are Not to Be Used in a Single 
Service. By no means introduce all these responses in 
every service; that would be to wear out their influence 
and to defeat one of the chief objects of their use,—the 
effective variation of the order of service. 

k. Organ Responses and Interludes. There may be 
organ interludes after the responsive reading, and after 
the long prayer and its response, to cover the confusion 
incident to the entrance of late comers, if their numbers 
justify these intrusions into the service. In many large 
churches there is a soft organ response after the long 
prayer. If used at all, for it has no real devotional value, 
it should be very short, not to exceed four measures, and 
should be used after a moment simply as a cover for the 
slight noise made by the audience in resuming its usual 
position. 

l. Linking Together the Items of the Service. Much 
‘nterest will be created if the several features of the 
service are closely linked together. For instance, if the 
soloist has sung a hymn as a solo, it will be effective if, 
without a break, the hymn is sung by the congregation. 
If the minister in closing his long prayer will solemnly 
repeat the text of the following response by the choir, the 
response will be more impressive. The choir may repeat, 
with music as a response, the closing benediction of the 
preacher. The preacher may weave into his prayer lines 
of the hymn that is to follow it. 


THE STANDARD ORDER OF SERVICE 65 


3. OutTSIDE ADDITIONS TO THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


a. Short Addresses. If there is occasion to introduce 
an outsider to make a plea in behalf of some worthy cause, 
it may be done after the first hymn or after the announce- 
ments. In the former place, the upward movement in 
religious interest has been sufficient to secure unity of 
attention and a common spirit of responsiveness to any 
good appeal. There is still time and opportunity to pre- 
pare the people for a devout reception of the long prayer 
by means of the responsive reading and the anthem, or 
solo. If the address is made before or after the an- 
nouncements, the climax of the worshipful half of the 
service will already have been reached and passed, and the 
intrusion will not be felt, being associated with the offer- 
tory which occupies the trough between the two emotional 
waves of the service. | 

b. Special Music Numbers. Special music by visiting 
artists, solo or otherwise, may be introduced at the same 
points without interrupting the progress of interest in the 
service; indeed, they may be great aids in deepening the 
devotional interest, if distinctly religious in character. If 
not, they will be a distraction, no matter what social or 
artistic interest_they excite, and should not be included in 
the service. 


4. GrapuaL INTRODUCTION OF VARIATIONS 


To some ministers and devout people these variations 
of schedule in the service will be disturbing and distract- 
ing, as they are very sensitive to the shock of unexpected 
features in the service. Some of these objectors are truly 
devout, others are merely conventional. By gradually 
introducing the new features without conspicuousness, the 
difficulty may gradually be overcome. 


66 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


5. Tur Buitpinc oF A Goop SERVICE Is Nor EASY 


To build a different service every Sunday will require 
a good deal of careful thought and attention to the details 
of preparation by both the minister and his co-workers. 
If they are willing to supply these for an entertainment or 
a concert, much more should they do so for the service 
of God’s house. ‘To standardise the service and reduce its 
preparation to a mechanical schedule, may simplify and 
minimise the necessity of thought and work, but the min- 
ister will not justly earn the reputation of “a workman 
that needeth not to be ashamed.” 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


_ How should the announcements and offertory be treated? 

_ How should the didactic section of the service begin? 

_ What should be the purpose of the Scripture reading? 

_ Why should the main anthem follow, and what is its purpose? 

_ What is the occasion for a hymn immediately following the 

sermon? 

6. What will the manner of its singing indicate? 

7, Is the postlude a part of the service? If so, what should be 
its nature? 

8 What is its usual fault and how can it be remedied? 

9, Why should the Apostles’ Creed not be recited at every stated 
service ? 

10. What other passages may the congregation recite? 

11. What is the value of responses? 

12. What choir introductions may be used? 

13. What are the chief responses that may be used? 

14. State the length of the several responses to be observed. 

15. How may several exercises be linked together effectively ? 

16, Where should short special addresses be introduced, and why? 

17. Explain the limitations of special music numbers. 

18. When should variations be slowly introduced? 


in & Ww NO 


IV 
FREE ORDERS OF SERVICE 


Class Room Suggestions: Emphasise the fact that the free 
order of service is not primarily intended to develop the worship- 
ful attitude of mind. Its objective is the attraction of the un- 
churched and their ultimate conversion. With this understanding 
invite the students to supply free orders of service, indicating 
whether they are intended for the attractional or the evangelistic 
sections of an extended campaign. There should be suggested in 
these outlines, the titles of the hymns or Gospel songs to be used, 
the titles of instrumental numbers and their instruments, the 
topics on which the offertory “ preludes” are based, the texts for 
the sermons, or the subjects of the addresses to be given. This 
will develop initiative and resourcefulness. 


1. R&eGuULAR ORDER FoR SPIRITUAL EDIFICATION 


The foregoing study of the standard order of service 
has found it psychologically efficient for the great Sunday 
morning service. 

But the upbuilding of the faith of believers and the 
edification of saints is not the only task of the Christian 
church. While the various epistles of the New ‘Testa- 
ment discuss and emphasise the perfecting and growth of 
the spiritual life of believers, and are strangely silent 
regarding the spirit and methods of evangelising and con- 
verting the outside world, the whole effort of the Apos- 
tolic Church was bent on winning souls, and so extending 
the Kingdom of God. In his epistles Paul seems to en- 
visage only the spiritual welfare of the churches and the 
conservation and the spiritualising of existing congrega- 
tions; but in his indefatigable missionary tours he was 
evangelistically aggressive and successful to an amazing 


67 


68 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


degree in the establishment of new centers of Christian 
influence. 


2. INEFFECTIVENESS OF REPEATING THE MORNING 
SERVICE 


a. Novelty is Needed to Interest. To repeat the service 
of the morning in the evening assembly is to lose sight of 
the evangelistic purpose of the church, and to commit the 
psychological blunder of ignoring the demand of the mind 
for a fresh experience, as well as of overlooking the pro- 
gressive diminution of its responsiveness to a repeated 
impression. ‘This danger of devitalising any efficient 
method of impressing the minds of his people by excessive 
use should be ever before the minister. Huis study must 
ever be to find new methods and means, new applications 
and new variations of the old. 

b. The Purpose of the Evening Service ts Different. 
The need of throwing off the trammels of a rigid and 
mechanical order of service in the evening service is all 
the greater for two important reasons: (1) the purpose 
is different, (2) the people to be affected are presum- 
ably different, for a different class of people are likely 
to be attracted. In the morning service the purpose is 
worship and the edification of saints, while the evening 
should be given to the instruction, conviction, and con- 
version of sinners. 

c. It Will Attract Persons Who Respond to Varied 
Appeals. ‘There are many good Christian people who do 
not enjoy the formal morning service. It is too depress- 
ing to their nerves. There can also be no question but 
that the unchurched masses do not find the formal services 
appealing to them, for the same reason. They simply will 
not attend. The free evening service is more likely to 
attract them. 


FREE ORDERS OF SERVICE 69 


3. SECURING THE ATTENDANCE OF THE UNCHURCHED 

The first problem is to secure the attendance of the 
people needing spiritual transformation. All too often 
ministers who accept the real purpose of the evening 
service give the service an evangelistic character and use 
evangelistic methods, when there is not a single uncon- 
verted person in the congregation. If a manufacturer or 
business man should so waste his energies and resources, 
a receivership would soon be ordered by a court. 

The evangelistic work of the evening service is there- 
fore a complex problem, and calls for carefully organised, 
ever changing yet consecutive methods of solution. 

a. The Lure of Song. No one will overlook the value 
of music in attracting the unconverted people of the com- 
munity. Of course, there are other excellent methods of 
attracting them, but none of them are more valuable. 
Everybody enjoys singing; therefore, congregational 
singing should be a very prominent part of the evening 
program, The chief factor is personal participation, 
stimulated by mental interest in the songs that are sung. 
Incidentally there may be,—nay, should be,—religious 
suggestiveness and even instruction, but fundamentally 
the lure of song should be used to attract and establish the 
habit of attendance on the part of those who are to be won. 

b. The Character of the Music. The final result is too 
infinitely important to permit petty personal tastes and 
artistic pride to control the character of the music used. 
Its appeal to the tastes of the persons to be attracted is 
the criterion to be observed. There will be no need of 
using “ jazz,’ or music with tawdry, vulgar, vaudeville 
associations, for the general public has some sense of fit- 
ness; but popular, not ecclesiastical, music must be used, 
songs that the people at large can sing spontaneously and 
with enjoyment. It will be important to select gospel 


70 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


songs that are generally known,—the current favourites. 
If there is adequate backing by a large formal or informal 
choir, entirely new songs may be cautiously introduced, 
for an effective new song well introduced is a tremendous 
creator of general interest. 

--¢, The Manner of Singing. These songs should not be 
sung in a stiff, formal, ecclesiastical way, but freely, 
naturally. ‘There may be exhortations to sing, variations 
in the manner of song, assignments to various parts of 
the congregation, ex tempore solos, repetitions of impor- 
tant verses and especially of choruses, changes in the 
force used for various verses or parts of song, comments 
on the sentiments of the hymn or illustrative and inspira- 
tional anecdotes. 

d. The Order of the Songs. Great finesse should be 
used in the selection and order of the songs used at the 
beginning of the service. The first song or two should be 
frankly rhythmical, being intended to find the people 
where they are and to stimulate them and unify them. 
The text should be good, but not profoundly religious. 
The people are not ready for deep feeling or for profound 
thought. ‘To sing “When I Survey the Wondrous 
Cross,” or “ My Jesus, I Love Thee,” at the opening of a 
miscellaneous meeting is little short of sacrilege. The 
third song may then be serious or even tender. The people 
have been won and the contrast will impress them. They 
may then be ready for “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ 
Name,” or “ Stand Up for Jesus,” to be followed by some- 
thing pathetic. ‘These contrasts are very important. A 
series of rattling songs and a series of quiet, sentimental 
songs are equally unfortunate. In any case there should 
be progress in the religious feeling expressed by them. 

e. The Immediate Purpose. The immediate purpose is 
to win undivided attention and to organise the personal 


FREE ORDERS OF SERVICE at 


units of the congregation into a mass whole, subject to 
mass psychology, by means of a common experience and 
common action. Physical exhilaration, a stimulus of 
mental and emotional interest along gregarious lines, are 
other essential results. 

f. The Adaptation to a Particular Congregation. ‘The 
average middle class community has been considered in 
the foregoing. Among a more cultivated people the phys- 
ical stimulus should be stressed less and the intellectual 
more. Merely rhythmical songs will give place to those 
that are more dignified. There will be less mere urging to 
sing and more effort to awaken interest in the songs by 
comment and illustration. The leader has still the funda- 
mental impulses to deal with, but the approach must be 
adapted to the greater sophistication of the audience and to 
the superficial factors of accepted convention or of culture. 

g. A Slight Change in the Opening Exercises Not Suf- 
ficient. Simply to replace the formal introductory ex- 
ercises of the morning service,—doxology, invocation, 
Gloria, and responsive reading,—with several popular 
songs and to continue the rigid order of service thereafter, 
is not sufficient. ‘The whole service must be free. The 
average non-church-goer resents the stiffness and formal- 
ity of the regular order of service. It is not impressive, 
but oppressive to him. Hence, while the same items of 
hymn, Bible reading, prayer, and address appear, their 
order is changed and their spirit of elevated solemnity is 
lightened by a free, enthusiastic rendition. 

h. The Introduction of Intellectual and Religious In- 
terest. Indifference and even latent hostility being neu- 
tralised, the attention won, the people welded into a 
psychological unit, an attitude of approbation and pleasure 
established, and a more or less vague religious tendency 
initiated, the following exercises should be selected with a 


72 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


view to the cumulative development of favourable mental 
interest and of a religious atmosphere. 

i. Supplements to the Choir. If there is a choir, it 
should be supplemented by a subsidiary organisation,—a 
men’s or women’s quartet, a children’s choir, a musical 
family, a string quartet, a brass band, in rare situations a 
mandolin club. If there is no choir, some of these are all 
the more important. They will supply the extra, unex- 
pected feature that will create additional interest. None 
of these should be constantly used, as they will soon wear 
out. If there is a choir, its selections should be calculated 
to please the people present. The proportion of purely 
devotional effects must depend on the religious average 
of the people present, in any case not too insistent. 

j. Instrumental Numbers. If there are to be any in- 
strumental solos in the program, they should be used in 
connection with the musical introduction, not during the 
later exercises. An exception may be made in favour of 
their offertory use. The guitar and mandolin, and even 
less the banjo, will rarely be available. The saxophone 
has unfortunately been so associated with “ jazz” that it 
is suggestive of ultra-secular impressions, but may be used 
with the proper selection of music. 

Care should be taken with the selection of the music of 
these instrumental solos and the minister should person- 
ally supervise it, lest cheaply rhythmical numbers with 
evil associations be performed. On the other hand, it 
does not need to be distinctly religious music. The ideal 
is good, attractive, popular music, without any evil 
associations. 

k. Bible Reading and Prayers. ‘The Bible reading 
should not be formal, but made appealing and vital by 
striking comment and illustration. There may be respon- 
sive reading, if the minister knows how to eliminate the 





FREE ORDERS OF SERVICE 73 


formality of it. Two short prayers, intense and vibrant 
with feeling, and confined to a few specific requests, will 
be better than one that is long, formal, and all-inclusive. 
If there is illness, calamity or death, or if there are indi- 
vidual cases of anxiety of mothers or wives, or other 
Christian workers, for the conversion of relatives or 
friends, special requests for prayers will add to the 
general interest in the prayer service. It may be wise for 
the minister to suggest and secure requests for prayer 
during his personal visitations, for they will not only do 
good service in the public meeting, but react spiritually on 
the persons making them. 

1. The Offertory and Its Accompanying Features. As 
there will be no particular upward devotional movement 
in danger of being checked, the announcements may be a 
little less formal and lightened up with some not too ex- 
uberant wit and humour. The offertory music may be an 
instrumental solo, a men’s or women’s quartet, a song by 
a Sunday-school class, or any other unusual musical num- 
ber. Instead of music, there may be a rapid-fire address 
on some civic or reform topic by a layman of good ad- 
dress in or outside of the congregation. In place of this, 
there may be a short illustrated sermon to children, or a 
semi-secular “prelude” by the preacher on a current 
topic. There may be a series of these “ preludes,” if the 
general topic binding them together is of commanding 
importance; but in general they should not occur at con- 
secutive evening services, or even at regular intervals. 
Variety and unexpectedness must be assiduously culti- 
vated. While all these supplementary addresses should be 
interesting and appealing to the unreligious element of 
the congregation, they should have a distinctly religious 
background, a never submerged assumption of religious 
truth. 


74: THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


m. The Religious Address or Sermon, It will not be 
trespassing on the province of homiletics unduly to insist 
that formalism in the development of thought and in dig- 
nity of manner and vocabulary, proper to a worshipful 
morning service, must fall away with the clerical pulpit 
robes, and that the sermon must be a man-to-man address 
that will grip the minds and hearts of the hearers, The 
written sermon may be entirely wise in the morning, but 
in the popular evening meeting there should be no paper 
walls between the preacher and his audience, but a freely 
flowing tide of personal magnetism and responsiveness 
between them. ‘The selection of the topic and its treat- 
ment must alike find the people. Prejudices against 
popular oratory, against the use of dramatic portrayal, 
against the use of humour, against freedom of gesticu- 
lation and expressiveness of countenance, should all be 
laid aside. ‘The sacrifice of taste involved will not be 
great enough to jeopardise the hope of “turning many to 
righteousness.” | 

The sermon should be religious, but interestingly, at- 
tractively religious. Sam Jones and Billy Sunday have 
proved how plain and even brutal talk on the weaknesses 
of humanity will attract and interest the people. Of 
course, the established preacher cannot indulge in such 
sharp attacks as can peripatetic evangelists; but if plainly 
impersonal, plainly motivated by zeal for righteousness, 
without rancour or malice, and free from pharisaic self- 
righteousness, the sermon can bring very fearless, incisive, 
sharply phrased denunciations of sin and thereby only 
enhance its attractiveness to unreligious people. 

n. Substitutes for the Sermon. But in the early stages 
of the campaign to build up an evening congregation of 
unsaved people, it may be wise occasionally to replace the 
sermon with other attractive features. There may be 





FREE ORDERS OF SERVICE 75 


lectures or addresses by outside speakers whose name will 
attract a congregation. ‘There may be a debate on some 
mooted question of general interest, led by speakers of 
known ability in the congregation or out of it. An occa- 
sional song service—not a sacred concert of secular music 
—or, better yet, a song sermon, will be greatly enjoyed by 
the people whose habit of churchgoing is to be established. 
The stereopticon and the moving picture projector will be 
useful tools, not to be set aside as allegedly sensational. 

For these services to accomplish the important task 
assigned them, they must be sensational, but religiously, 
spiritually sensational. They must have vigour, aggres- 
siveness, life, must thrill by their social, intellectual, emo- 
tional, religious interest. The means used to create and 
intensify that interest must be measured, not by the min- 
ister’s abstract, conventional ideals, but by their winning, 
eripping effect on the people who are to be attracted to the 
evening service and eventually to the fold of Christ. 

0. The Closing Music. The closing music should be 
selected with the utmost care and discrimination, for it is 
the climax of the whole service. If there is special music, 
it should be very striking, very attractive, very impressive. 
This is no place for merely ordinary numbers. The final 
song should be a well known favourite, fitted to express 
enthusiasm, but not too light or too cheap. Instead of a 
postlude from the organ, have the choir, or occasionally 
the children’s chorus, sing a spirited number while the 
people reluctantly pass out. 

p. Additional Points. As the campaign for attendance 
proceeds successfully, and more and more people attend 
regularly, the aggressively religious element in the evening 
service should be increased and the merely attractional 
features gradually dropped out, to be used again when it 
becomes necessary to allure new material to work upon. 


76 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


There should be no hurry to “draw the net.” Better 
wait until indications of spiritual interest are met in pri- 
vate intercourse with the people and until success 1s 
assured. Once its use is justified, its success will thrill a 
congregation as can no other exercise. Its failure will be 
an unhappy anti-climax. 

Such a service is not subject to the one-hour restriction. 
For an oppressive, solemn, not to say all too often dull and 
stupid service, an hour is a sufficient strain on the loyalty 
of good church people. But people will gladly stay an 
hour and a half, yes, two hours, at a religious service that 
is profoundly interesting, filled with surprises, increasingly 
thrilling, and go away, wishing it had been longer. But 
unless or until the minister is sure that his evening service 
meets the foregoing specifications, he had better observe 
the sixty minute schedule. , 


4. OTHER MEETINGS 


There are other meetings than the evening service where 
the program must be informal and free. 

a. Tent and Tabernacle Meetings. ‘There are tent, 
tabernacle, street and shop services where the mental 
attitude of the gathered people is not only not devout, but 
is absolutely indifferent, if not actually hostile. Their 
attention, good-will, and sympathy must be won before 
the message will get a hearing. A series of good stories, 
humourous at first and then tender, followed by the sing- 
ing of familiar songs, will likely solve the problem in the 
most sullen crowd. A religiously rather vapid but 
melodious and rhythmical song may be of great service at 
this point. Sharp, idealistic, superfine criticism of such 
selections often goes badly astray, because of ignorance 
of this preliminary necessity. To use deeply spiritual 
hymns to secure this introductory physical result would 





FREE ORDERS OF SERVICE 77 


often be sacrilegious. Once the assembled crowd is thor- 
oughly in hand, the devouter songs may be used to ad- 
vantage. The succeeding parts of the service will then be 
only an intensified duplicate of the evening program 
already analysed. 

b. General Union Meetings. ‘Then there are union 
meetings of all the churches where civic problems, moral 
reforms, philanthropic causes are to be considered. There 
are Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. meetings for various 
purposes that need definite schedules of events. There 
are great conventions of Sunday-school workers, of 
young people’s societies, of missionary representatives, 
of prohibition leaders, whose success depends on the 
welding together of somewhat heterogeneous elements. 
In all of these the use of religious songs and hymns is 
of commanding importance. 

When sustained attention brings fatigue and dulls the 
sharp edge of interest, a song or two will refresh and 
stimulate the jaded energies and sensitise heart and mind 
for the further impressions to be received. 

Here again the proper selection of music must be made. 
Heavy, slow, solemn music is not stimulating but de- 
pressing and will not serve the purpose. “ Coronation,” 
“ Aurelia,” “ Portuguese Hymn,” “ St. Gertrude,” ‘“ Re- 
gent Square,” and others of like character, will do very 
well among dignified bodies made up of older people; but 
in gatherings of younger people the livelier gospel songs 
are needed. 

c. Competent Leadership. In all cases there is need of 
a leader who leads, who can secure full participation, who 
can vitalise the sentiments of the hymns that are sung, by 
striking, witty, emotional comment. Such comment must 
be very short. To make even short addresses is to put 
one’s foot on the brake pedal, instead of on the accelerator. 


78 THE ORDER OF SERVICE 


5. MINISTERIAL ADAPTATION TO FREE SERVICES 


There are many ministers who shrink from these 
cavalry raids into the enemy’s country, as endangering the 
dignity which they feel is important to their Sunday morn- 
ing service. But there are too many others who succeed 
in both types of service to warrant such anxiety. Indeed, 
the habit of treating a service in an emotional style will 
only intensify the interest in the staider morning service, 
and prevent its formalism from degenerating into mechan- 
ical routine. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. What task co-ordinate to the edification of believers has the 
Christian Church? 

2. Why is repeating the order of the morning service ineffective? 

3. How can the attendance of the unchurched be secured? 

4. In using music to attract an attendance, what considerations 
obtain? 

5. Why is care needed in the selection of opening songs? 

6. What is the purpose of the opening song? 

7. When should more definitely intellectual and religious features 
be introduced? 

8. How may the choir be supplemented? 

9. When should instrumental numbers be used? 

10. What should be the spirit of the Bible reading and of the 
prayers? 

11. What variations may be made in connection with the 
offertory ? 

12. Suggest the character of the sermon or address. 

13. What substitutes may be used for the sermon? 

14. Why is the closing music important? 

15. How fast should the religious element be increased? 

16. How soon should the invitation be given? 

17. How long should such a free service be? 

’ 18. How win an audience in a tent or tabernacle, or on the street? 

19. What is the problem in great general meetings or conventions? 

20. Should a minister shrink from these free, popular meetings? 





PART UI 
THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


A PRAYER FOR THE CHOIR AND ORGANIST 


“ Almighty God, who hast ordained the faculties of man to be 
the eternal instruments of rendering to Thee glory and praise; 
and hast moved the hearts of these Thy servants to desire to serve 
thee in singing Thy praises, or in playing on instruments of 
music unto the praise of Thy name in the midst of the congrega- 
tion, grant them, we beseech Thee, Thy blessing and grace. O 
Thou, whose name is Holy, who willest that all things in Thy 
House should be holiness unto Thee, sanctify these thy servants, 
we humbly beseech Thee, in this holy ministry; endue them with 
the spirit of worship in Thy holy fear; and give unto them to 
sing the songs of the Spirit with the spirit and with the under- 
standing ; that through the presence and power of the Holy Ghost 
they may edify themselves and all Thy congregation in psalms and 
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with grace 
in their hearts. Hear us, for the sake of Jesus Christ, to whom, 
with Thee and the Holy Ghost, be glory and praise forever. 
Amen.” —(Liturgy of the Catholic Apostolic Church.) 


V 
THE PIPE ORGAN 


Class Room Suggestions: An extra hour may well be spent in 
the organ loft of some church examining all parts of the pipe 
organ under the supervision of a competent organist, or organ 
mechanic. No matter whether the class has done so before; there 
will remain much to be learned and, pedagogically, great is the 
power of iteration. The value of the several stops should be care- 
fully canvassed, not only as to pitch, but as to quality of tone. 
The accessories, also, should be explained and their action made 
clear,—couplers, swell pedal, etc. The acoustics of the church in 
their relation to the organ may be given attention. Do not hurry 
the examination; give the students time to digest what they see 
and hear. Have students scatter into accessible churches and 
report at the next recitation their impressions of the organists 
they hear. 


Supplementary Reading: Peter C. Lutkin, “Music in the 
Church,” The Young Churchman Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; Wash- 
ington Gladden, “Parish Problems,’ The Century Co. New 
York; Waldo S. Pratt, “ Musical Ministries,’ The Fleming H. 
Revell Co., New York; F. G. Edwards, “ United Praise,” J. Cur- 
wen & Sons, London; J. S. Curwen, “ Studies in Worship Music,” 
First and Second Series, J. Curwen & Sons, London; E. E. Min- 
shall, “Organs, Organist and Choirs,” J. Curwen & Sons, Lon- 
don; Dudley Buck, “Illustrations in Choir Accompaniment,” G. 
Schirmer, New York; John Mann Walker, “ Better Music in Our 
“este The Methodist Book Concern, Cincinnati and New 

ork. 


1. Past UssE oF THE PIPE ORGAN 


While the early church forbade all instrumental music 
in the church service, partly because of its evil heathen 
associations, partly because there had been no instrument 
developed that could express the calm and dignified re- 
ligious emotions, the need of it was constantly felt. Even 
when the organ was still in its calliopean stage, bellowing 
its unisons so that it could be heard furlongs away, it was 


81 


82 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


used in the larger cathedrals, and the sharp, squeaking, 
portable organs were used in the smaller cathedrals and 
churches. But when the bellowing monster was bitted 
and bridled, the need of instrumental support, to establish 
the pitch and to unify the discordant voices of the singers, 
was so urgent, that the organ was everywhere introduced 
except in Scotch and Puritan sections. 


2. Tuer NEED oF INSTRUMENTAL SUPPORT 


The ability to sustain an established pitch is too de- 
pendent on individual musical sensitiveness, on individual 
health, on individual responsiveness to weather conditions, 
that a congregation should be able to sing together in an 
edifying manner without instrumental support. Without 
the support of an organ, it used to be necessary to pitch 
the tunes in a high key to provide a margin for the inevi- 
table falling of the pitch during a long psalm. In an un- 
accompanied congregation made up of persons without 
much musical sensitiveness there may be various degrees 
of flatting with a cacophonous result most painful to the 
sensitive listener. Hence the need of an instrumental 
support that will sustain the pitch and unify the voices of 
those who have the needed ear to rely upon it. There are 
persons whose musical gifts are so rudimentary that even 
with such help they cannot keep in tune. The instrument, 
to some extent, at least, will cover up the discords. 

The harmony of the chords played by the instrumental 
leader, will give a cue to the basses and altos who cannot 
sing the melody, but have a natural instinct for separate 
parts that are concordant. 

It will be seen that the use of instruments in divine 
worship is not a matter of principle, but of sheer expedi- 
ency. That the ignorance or self-assertion of the player 
may lead to abuses detrimental to true worship, no prop- 


THE PIPE ORGAN 83 


erly informed person will deny. The same objections 
might be raised to sermons! 


3. OTHER INSTRUMEN'’S USED To SUPPORT VOICES 


What that instrumental support shall be is again a mat- 
ter of expediency. It depends on the instruments avail- 
able, the ability and training of the players, the character 
of the religious meeting and the responsiveness of the 
people to be affected. 

a. Solo Instruments. Among solo instruments, the 
cornet and the trombone are usually most available and 
successful. The violin is frequently used, but has not 
enough body of tone and is too incisive in quality and 
range, to be used alone. The violoncello would be 
better, but is not often to be had and is rarely used. 
Of course, none of these solo instruments have any har- 
monic value. 

b. Orchestra. ‘The use of an orchestra has gone out 
of fashion, although it preceded the organ in. ante- 
revolutionary days in Europe and New England. The 
organ is more practicable and has taken its place. Where 
the orchestra can be organised, its use is still to be encour- 
aged, as adding colour and interest to festivals and special 
occasions. 

c. Piano. Advantages. The piano has more frequent 
use. Its sharp attack controls an audience and marks the 
rhythm well. It is excellent for choir rehearsal, as it 
indicates the time well and does not cover up the mistakes 
of the singers. It is particularly useful in the Sunday- 
school, in large conventions and in lively evangelistic 
meetings. It has the further advantage that competent 
players can easily be secured. 

Disadvantages. Its disadvantages are that to most 
hearers its associations are with light, frivolous music, 


84 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


that most pianists play with undue stress on the rhythmical 
possibilities of popular church music, depreciating its re- 
ligious value, and that it lacks the churchly dignity of 
sustained tone. Its attack on the nerves also is irritating 
instead of calming, because every note is a sharp stroke 
on the strings. While the piano is quite expressive emo- 
tionally, it does not suggest worshipful emotion. Another 
drawback is that there is really very little religious piano 
music issued, and pianists are almost forced to select 
purely secular compositions for their voluntaries, for most 
distinctively organ music, because of its sustained notes, 
is impossible on a piano. 

d. The Reed Organ, Its Advantages and Disadvantages. 
The reed organ is still used in many of the smaller con- 
gregations, and used quite effectively. While its range of 
tone quality is very limited, and it is not strong enough to 
carry a large congregation, it has a churchly, sustained 
tone that carries, and blends with the congregational and 
choir voices nearly as well as the pipe organ. For regular 
church service use it is far superior to the piano, although 
for the Sunday-school and popular meeting the latter in- 
strument is to be preferred. 

In this country the reed organ is unduly despised by 
the average musician, partly because of the wide distribu- 
tion of cheap and badly voiced instruments. In Germany 
and in England the harmonium, as the reed organ is there 
called,t has very considerable artistic standing. Some of 


* There is this distinction between the American reed organ and 
the European harmonium that in the former the air is drawn 
through the reeds and in the latter it is blown through. In the 
American instrument the reeds are very slightly twisted, which 
affects the quality of the tone somewhat. The Vocalion in Amer- 
ica is built on the principle of the European instrument and, like 
that, is louder and harsher in tone. 


THE PIPE ORGAN 85 


the outstanding musical composers, such as Krag-Elert, 
write fairly elaborate music for it. 

The substitution of the piano for it is unfortunate. 
Unless a competent organ player cannot be secured, it is 
a mistake to substitute the piano for the reed organ. Bet- 
ter get a more elaborate pedal reed organ with more 
variedly voiced stops and so create interest in it. In gen- 
eral it may be said that an adequate reed organ fairly well 
played is more serviceable than a pipe organ poorly played. 

Many an excellent reed organ is unjustly condemned be- 
cause it is not properly cared for. It is set up against a 
damp outside wall with the result that transmission rods 
swell and stick and the glued joints in its structure give 
way. The dust that is drawn through the bellows settles 
on the transmission and on the reeds, interfering with the 
action and with the quality of the tone. Place the reed 
organ in a dry place, not a warm place necessarily, and 
give it a periodical cleaning. In clearing the reeds of dust, 
use both a stiff and a soft brush to assure complete re- 
moval of the dust. A superficial cleaning may actually 
make the action and tone worse. 


4. Tur Prez OrcAN 


More and more the pipe organ is being introduced into 
our churches. Its variety of voicing, its dignity of sus- 
tained tone, its large and varied literature for church use, 
combine to give it the pre-eminence. 

a. Not An Unmixed Good. Whether a congregation 
ought to have a pipe organ or not, will very largely depend 
upon its musical as well as its financial resources. 

In many a church there is suddenly developed an ambi- 
tion for a pipe organ. The people hardly know why they 
want it. Some think it is more up to date. Others think 
its absence an unanswerable proof of the inferiority of 


86 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


their church. A few want a pipe organ because they 
realise its artistic and religious possibilities. 

The fact is that a pipe organ is not an’ unmixed good. 
In some churches it is rather an unmixed evil. Given a 
small congregation that is not hearty in its participation in 
the service of song, given an organist who thinks he is the 
whole thing, and that the more stops he pulls out the more 
evident is his musical capacity, and the organ becomes a 
thing of evil.” 

The introduction of the pipe organ with its instrumental 
numbers is a pronounced formalising influence. The free- 
dom and spontaneity of public worship, so grateful to less 
cultivated congregations, disappears. ‘The opposition to 
organs by the Reformers and by the Wesleys was not a 
mere vagary, but had deep psychological roots. Their 
spontaneous and intense type of piety instinctively re- 
sented the mechanical, formal worship the “ Kist o’ 
Whussels ” represented. 

b. Its Advantages. On the other hand, if you have a 
large congregation that sings with unanimity and power, 
requiring strong instrumental support, and an organist 
who knows his own proper place and that of the organ, 
the pipe organ may be made a most valuable aid in the 
public service. The choir will not only have more ade- 
quate support, but its music will have greater variety of 
tone colour, and a wider range of expression. 


?“Tt is far easier to make an organ than an organist. The in- 
strument is ready in a few months; the player is the slow result 
of years. The organ, moreover, is an instrument which allows 
boundless scope for indiscretion; its very capabilities are its weak- 
ness in the hands of an injudicious or ignorant player. Unfor- 
tunately, only a small proportion of the rank and file of our 
organists have been trained. This is their misfortune and not 
their fault.”—J. S. Curwen in “ Studies in Worship Music.” First 
Series. 


( 


THE PIPE ORGAN 87 


When we come to consider the purely instrumental 
numbers of the service, the pipe organ is vastly superior 
to the reed organ, not to speak of the piano. Its range of 
power, its great variety of voicing, its general expressive- 
ness, make it possible to command an impressiveness and 
emotionality that could only be secured through a large 
and well-equipped orchestra. The pipe organ has many 
advantages, but the decision in favour of it should depend 
on whether the size of the congregation and its varied 
needs require one, and whether a really competent and 
genuinely musical organist can be secured. 


5. THE CaArE OF THE PIPE ORGAN 


It must be kept in good condition. It will be unneces- 
sary to repeat the advice given in “Church Music,” a 
previous volume in this series, regarding the purchase of 
a pipe organ, but the fact that this instrument must be 
kept in good condition should be emphasised. 

a. Mechanical Parts That Need Watching. Some of 
the notes have an unfortunate fashion of cyphering; the 
action is slow or sticks; the reeds need retuning; the bel- 
lows may leak or be wrongly weighted; the couplers may 
work badly; perhaps the whole organ needs a cleaning 
up, for the dust of the years covers pipes and action. The 
motor is unreliable ; the water motor has not been greased 
since time immemorial ; the electric motor may have unre- 
liable connections or a short circuit. 

b. Competent Supervision Needed. All these items 
should be under the supervision of a competent organ 
tuner. He should be held responsible for its being kept in 
tune and for small repairs that may be needed. A regular 
fee should be allowed for this work with extra pay for 
more extensive repairs: Even the cleaning of the organ 
may not be committed to untrained hands, lest the dust 


88 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


that rests where it is doing no harm be transferred to 
places where it will. 

The unhappy results of extreme changes of temperature 
during the winter, and of dampness, may be avoided by 
placing in the organ an electric heating device with proper 
precautions against fire. 

c. Proper Ventilation Needed. ‘There are few organs 
that are systematically and effectively ventilated. Ventila- 
tion is of great importance, as it prevents the dampness 
which produces rust and rot in the delicate mechanism. It 
also equalises the temperature of the organ and so obvi- 
ates the difference of pitch between its different parts. 
It may be well for the blower to draw the air from the 
outside to cool the pipes in the case of churches that are 
likely to be overheated. 

d. When the Organ Cyphers. There are few more 
troublesome and distracting events in a church service 
than the cyphering of the pipe organ, the continued sound- 
ing of some one pipe. Organists of experience will at 
once push in the stop to which the offending pipe belongs. 
Sometimes continued striking of the key will remove the 
dust or other intruding matter that prevents the valve 
from closing, or will release the spring that has caught. 

But when the full organ is on, it is a little difficult to 
identify the offending stop, and then the most immediate 
remedy is to stop the motor that fills the bellows. Some- 
one should be appointed and properly instructed to do this 
without loss of time at the nod of the organist. If there 
is a “handy” man about, he can lift out the offending 
pipe, place a heavy piece of cardboard over the hole, 
weight it down with the pipe and so stop the rush of air. 
The motor can then be started and the organ used for 
immediate services until the organ is permanently repaired. 

e. The Custodian of the Organ. ‘The organ is so com- 


THE PIPE ORGAN 89 


plicated an instrument, and hence so easily put out of 
commission, and is so expensive to repair, that it is an 
open question whether anyone other than the organist 
should be permitted to play on it. On the other hand, so 
large an investment should yield dividends of usefulness 
beyond its use one day in the week. Frequently there will 
be persons in the congregation or community of reliable 
character, who would be delighted with the opportunity to 
practice upon it and so prepare themselves for usefulness 
in the musical service of some church. 

In general, the custody of the organ should be com- 
mitted to the organist under the general supervision of 
some competent official of the church. However, there 
should be a distinct understanding as to whether he can 
use it as a practice instrument for his. pupils. 


6. Tur Stupy oF THE PIPE ORGAN 


a. The Study of Registration Values. One of the first 
requisites to good playing is to know one’s organ thor- 
oughly. Not only the individual stops with their individ- 
ual values, and the exact limitations of their value, but 
also their relation to other stops in combination, or in 
contrast, must be thoroughly comprehended. The value 
of the accessories—combination stops, grand crescendo 
pedal, swell pedal, and couplers must not only be under- 
stood, but be fully impressed upon the subconscious mind. 

But this profound acquaintance cannot be secured by 
merely playing ; the organist must listen to his instrument. 
Unless his console is far removed from the organ, he is 
at the worst possible place to hear and analyse properly 
the effect his playing is producing on the congregation. 
Many organs are so badly placed that the sound is re- 
flected back and forth before it reaches the ear of the 
organist. In many cases the ear of the player is a whole 


90 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


beat behind his fingers! His softer passages he may not 
hear at all. Even at best, no matter how rarely well an 
organ may be placed, the organist cannot get the niceties 
of his playing, for his attention is disturbed by the manip- 
ulation of stops, combinations, pedals, as well as the direc- 
tion of fingers, and feet, no matter how subconscious their 
control has become. 

b. How to Study It. The only way to study one’s 
organ successfully is to be a listener in different parts of 
the church in a series of tryouts with a competent fellow- 
organist on the bench. ‘The tone quality of individual 
stops and of their various combinations on the same man- 
ual, or by couplers, should be worked out systematically 
and the results carefully noted and tabulated. The 
question of the power of the stops individually and in 
combination should also be equally systematically and ex- 
haustively studied. The advantages and the defects of 
the particular organ must be canvassed, for pipe organs 
have marked individuality, not being standardised and 
made in great job lots like a cheap automobile. Stops 
with the same name in different organs by no means pro- 
duce the same effect. They may differ in material, work- 
manship, voicing and scale. 

With such a thorough-going inventory of the possibili- 
ties and limitations of his instrument, the organist will be 
saved from submerging the soloist, or even the choir, with 
overloud registration in manual or pedals. He will also 
have secured a wider range and greater expressiveness of 
registration. 

c. The Study of Its Mechanism. It is important that 
the organist shall be thoroughly conversant with the 
mechanism of his instrument. It is a complicated struc- 
ture, it is true, but that is only the greater reason for his 
understanding it; who else can be expected to be inter- 


THE PIPE ORGAN 91 


ested enough to investigate its details? There is a valve 
here, a spring there, to get out of order; the danger of a 
short circuit in the electric-pneumatic transmission is 
always present; the weights on the wind chest need ad- 
justing ; the swell pedal sticks or works hard; the reeds 
are out of tune,—what a multitude of accidents are hap- 
pening that call only for the touch of a deft hand, such as 
the organist should be able to supply. If the organist’s 
fingers are all thumbs in mechanical work, he had better 
hunt up an organ expert, or an organ factory, and acquire 
the necessary manual skill. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. Why was the organ opposed for so many centuries? 

. Why is instrumental support for church singing necessary? 

3. What instruments, aside from the organ, have been used for 
support ? 

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the piano for 
this purpose? 

5. When is the reed organ advisable? 

6. How should a reed organ be cared for? 

7 

8 


hie 


. Why do some congregations desire a pipe organ? 
. When is it inadvisable? 
9. What care does a pipe organ need? 
10. What shall be done when the organ cyphers? 
11. Who should be the custodian of the organ? 
12. State what occasion there is for studying the organ. 
13. How should its stops be studied? 
14. Why should the organist study the mechanism of the organ? 


VI 
THE ORGANIST 


Class Room Suggestions: The impressions made upon the stu- 
dents by the organists they heard on the previous Sunday may be 
used to make the points raised in this chapter concrete and vivid. 
Other experiences by both professor and students may well be 
drawn out. Emphasise the religious character of the organist. 


1. Tur IMPORTANCE OF THE ORGANIST 


The selection of an organist is almost as serious a mat- 
ter as the choice of a pastor. He conditions the success of 
the public service almost as much as does the preacher, for 
he is a personality plus a great instrument; he affects, yes, 
he may be said to control, the work of both congregation 
and choir, and creates the atmosphere in which the public 
worship moves. An incompetent, blundering organist fre- 
quently spoils the whole effect of the church service. 

Occasionally the church organ is badly abused by an 
ambitious organist to the sore detriment of the religious 
effectiveness of the music and consequently of the whole 
service. As Mrs. E. L. Ashford has said, “ Many players — 
seem to be of the opinion that the vocal efforts of the 
choir and of the congregation are for the purpose of fur- 
nishing a sort of accompaniment to a brilliant display of 
organ technic. As a result of this mistaken idea, the in- 
offensive church organ is frequently given an importance 
to which it has not a legitimate right.’ 

When the organist plays preludes, offertories, postludes, 
and even interludes, he is no longer a negligible quantity. 

If the purpose is to bring worship to a loving God and 
comfort to His buffeted and harassed children, the soft 


92 


THE ORGANIST 93 


strains of the opening voluntary will quiet the nerves and 
the minds of the assembly of strenuous people who have 
gathered. Has the minister a call to the reverent consider- 
ation of some sublime aspect of the divine nature, the 
majestic pealing of the organ will weld the unorganised 
multitude into one body full of solemn thought. 

In his prelude he becomes the temporary chairman 
whose duty it is to announce the purpose of the meeting. 
Not all organists realise the importance of their volun- 
taries in creating the atmosphere of the service. No, this 
is not impracticable theorising. The bands on the streets 
have more sense of fitness and tact in adapting their music 
to the occasion than have many of our organists.* 


2. WHo SHALL SELECT THE ORGANIST? 


The responsibility of selecting an organist should not be 
taken lightly, therefore, or laid upon incompetent persons. 
Where there is a music committee, they are presumably 
the most capable representatives of the church. The ad- 
vice of an organist generally recognised as competent, 
should be sought, making due allowance for the personal 
equation of prejudice, or of self-interest as a teacher. 
The pastor, as head of the church and responsible for its 
success, must have a controlling voice in the selection of 
this subordinate. 


3. THE QUALIFICATIONS 


The important points to be considered in canvassing the 
merits of a candidate may be catalogued as follows: 


1Thibaut, whose “ Purity in Music” was highly commended by 
Robert Schumann, while speaking of the effect of much organ 
playing, remarks, “ The prelude unfits him (¢. e., the hearer) for 
the chorale, and the intricate interlude goes a great way to dis- 
tract his attention, and the sole aim of the concluding voluntary 
seems to be to obliterate the sermon and everything else.” 


94 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


a. He Should Be An All-round Competent Player. He 
must be a competent player, accurate, expressive, adapt- 
able. He must not only be able to play a brilliant postlude, 
but emotional music in an effective way. Huis hymn tune 
playing, his accompaniments to soloists and choir, and his 
smooth adaptability to the varied spirit and needs of the 
service, must all be beyond question. Better an organist 
who can meet all the requirements reasonably well than 
the genius who meets but one of them supremely well. 

b. He Should Have a Knowledge of Musical Theory. 
He should have a fair knowledge of the theory of music, 
including harmony. It will give an intelligent basis for 
his judgment as to the merits of various compositions. In 
his improvisation and method of playing music that calls 
for minor adaptations such as transposition, in the accu- 
racy of his sight reading, it will be a great help. It will 
mean a broader musical culture for himself and a basis 
of authority over his subordinate associates. 

c. He Should Have Ability to Interpret Texts. He 
need not be a literary man, but ought at least to have 
general culture enough to understand and interpret the 
hymn, solo, and anthem texts of the compositions he ex- 
pects to play. If they are merely pegs on which the music 
is hung, how can his playing interpret and express their 
deeper meanings and feelings? 

d. He Should Be a Gentleman. ‘The organist ought to 
be a gentleman. He has relation to so many people, from 
the pastor down, that he cannot do proper team work with 
them unless he is considerate and thoughtful of others, 
gracious, tactful, obliging, patient, ready to help.” 


*“ The position demands much more than executive ability and 
skill in building on a figured bass. It requires infinite tact, knowl- 
edge of human nature, as represented by church officials and chor- 
isters, presence of mind and general resourcefulness, in addition 


THE ORGANIST 95 


e. He Should Be in Sympathy with the Work of the 
Church. He must be able to respond to the plans of the 
pastor, and enter into the feelings of the congregation. A 
Catholic or a Jewish organist cannot hope, with all good 
intentions, to fit into a Protestant environment. An organ- 
ist brought up in a liturgical atmosphere will have diff- 
culty in fitting into the less formal life of a non-liturgical 
church. It is not a matter of musical skill, or of outward 
adaptation, but of the spirit and of the ideals of purpose 
underlying them. A selfish, self-centered man, regardful 
only of his own tastes and predilections, unable to enter 
into points of view and lines of susceptibility other than 
his own, will not make a religious success of his work 
however brilliant his merely musical success may be. Many 
an organist, with a great reputation musically, is actually a 
pitiable religious failure. What James Orth said of De 
Pachmann’s playing should be true of every organist: 
“Unless you can draw tears from your instrument, and 
incidentally from your auditors as well, the call is not very 
loud for you to enter the field of music as a performer.” ® 


to mechanical competence and musical taste. The man who has 
mixed with his fellows, and bought a varied experience, is of far 
more worth than the man who has spent his days in finger exer- 
cises and his nights in cramming for a degree.”—J. Cuthbert 
Hadden in “ The Choir Leader.” 

®“Tt is strange that many churches are utterly indifferent to the 
spirituality of their musical leaders, when they are solicitous about 
that of their pastors. Nothing points so clearly as this to the 
widespread misapprehension of the real function of music in wor- 
ship. The organist or chorister, if he is anything, is a leader or 
guide in the act of worship. ... Yet, in many places, he is treated 
with a frivolous thoughtlessness. He is looked upon as an enter- 
tainer, a purveyor of luxury, like the upholsterer that cushions 
the pews. ... He is rarely expected to act as if charged with any 
religious responsibility. His religious character is often not even 
considered. Even his morality may be notoriously bad without 


96 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


f. He Should Be a Christian. He must, to do the fore- 
going, be not only a man of good moral character, but a 
Christian, a man of devoutness and of earnest religious 
conviction and understanding. Nothing less will do, if the 
service is to be devotionally successful.* A stream cannot 
rise higher than its source; the religious value of church 
music has its fountain head in the heart of the organist. 

g. Women Are Eligible. While women have not been 
prominent as composers or concert organists, they have 
many conspicuous qualities fitting them for organists and 
choir directors. They have a higher average than men in 
responsiveness to high sentiment, in faithfulness to. ac- 
cepted duty, in alertness of mind and fertility of resources, 
and in devoutness and spirituality. They are also less 
prone to mere professionalism, the bane of genuinely re- 
ligious work. In the selection of an organist, therefore, 
the question of sex need not be raised. 

h. The Organist May Be the Director. It is a mooted 
question whether the organist should be also the choir 
director. There is no universal answer ; too much depends 
upon the organist’s personality as well as ability, upon the 
size of the choir and upon the elaborateness of the musical 
service. With most players, however, the division of at- 
tention between their own work and that of the choir is 
fatal to great success in either. With a competent quartet 
choir, it is entirely feasible. ‘There are men, here and 
there, who do succeed with a chorus choir, 


4. MerHop oF EXAMINATION 
It might be well if American churches took the selection 


apparently disqualifying him.”—-Waldo S. Pratt in “ Parish 
Problems.” 

*Henry Ward Beecher, in commending his organist, John 
Zundel, remarked, “ He prays with his fingers.” 


THE ORGANIST 97 


of an organist as seriously as do those of England, and try 
out a prospective candidate before actually engaging him. 
Some bad misfits might be avoided. Such an examination 
should take place in the presence of the pastor, the music 
committee, the choir, and of invited guests whose judg- 
ment may seem desirable. A candidate whose person- 
ality and work are well known in a community would not 
call for such a formality, but an outsider, no matter what 
his references and recommendations, (they usually repre- 
sent good-will rather than good judgment) should not 
object to a thorough try-out. 

The following schedule covers the needed points to be 
investigated : 

a. The playing of two church voluntaries, a quiet num- 
ber, calling for nice interpretation and emotional expres- 
sion, and a brilliant postlude, both of the candidate’s 
selection. 

b. The playing at sight of a voluntary selected by the 
pastor or one of his aides. 

c. The transposing a step, or a half step, at sight of a 
hymn tune selected by the pastor and the modulation from 
one key to another. 

d. Accompanying the choir in a hymn and in an 
anthem, evidencing not only mere digital accuracy, but 
style and spirit in both the introduction and the manner of 
accompanying itself. 

e. Accompanying a solo at sight in a song calling for 
careful interpretation. Note the registration and the 
player’s contribution to the effectiveness of the solo. 

f. If the candidate is to conduct the choir, he should 
rehearse an anthem, mutually agreed upon, noting his in- 
terpretation and his ability to control the work of the 
choir by means of his instrument. It should be remem- 
bered that the intelligence of the choir is as important a 


98 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


factor as the ability of the organist conductor. If the 
choir is slow to follow the organ, it may be well to supply 
a separate director. 

g. Finally, there should be a test by means of an actual 
service. Carefully note the adaptation of his work to the 
service as a whole, his team work with the pastor, with the 
congregation in the singing of the hymns, with the choir 
in its anthem and responses, with the soloist in making 
the accompaniment a help in knitting it closely into the 
movement of the service, the selection of the voluntaries 
and the spirit in which they are played, their proper rela- 
tion to what precedes and to what follows, and to the 
spirit of the service as a whole.® 

h. His team work with the choir director and the choir 
should be noted. His interpretation of the hymns of the 
service ought also to be carefully observed. 

i. His arrangement of his music on his desk, ready for 
immediate use without the loss of a moment, is quite 1m- 
portant. It will be also significant as indicating his gen- 
eral competence. 

While this thorough schedule of examination may not 
be observed in most churches, it will at least serve to sug- 
gest the lines of investigation which ought to be privately - 
pursued. 


5. THE OrGANIS?T’S RELATION TO THE PASTOR 


If the service is to be a unit, the organist must fit his 
work into the general plan. How can he do this if he 
doesn’t know it? Who is responsible for the general plan? 
The minister, of course; the strategy of the service lies 
in his hands. But what if the minister does not formally 


5 This assumes that the minister has carefully built up the order 
of service, and assigned to the organist his specific share in its 
development. 


THE ORGANIST 99 


inform the organist what he is planning and consult him 
about it? Why, then, the wise organist will consult with 
the unwise minister, for no sensible subordinate will 
proceed on his own initiative, unless his superior of- 
ficer has formally instructed and authorised him to do 
so. No major in a regiment looks upon his colonel as 
a ‘“ meddlesome, interfering busybody,” because he sends 
him his instructions and orders. That is the colonel’s 
business; it is the major’s business to accept and obey 
them. If the organist is unwilling to know and loyally 
to accept his subordinate relation, let him resign his 
commission. 

The state of war, that often exists between an arbitrary, 
tactless parson and his self-sufficient, unteachable organ- 
ist, is amusingly illustrated in Thibaut’s volume quoted 
above. ‘Thibaut himself says, “ Really, it is above com- 
prehension how the clergy have quietly borne the delin- 
quencies of organists,” to which his translator replies in a 
note, “It is to us quite incomprehensible how educated 
musicians have so meekly put up with the insolence of 
unmusical and bigoted clergymen.” Really, both deserve 
sympathy, in spite of the fact that both are at fault. The 
clergyman is too domineering and too dogmatic regarding 
details ; the organist is too self-important over his tech- 
nical skill, and too narrow in his views and sympathies to 
comprehend the subordination of his share of the service 
to the more important general purpose in view. It is the 
-preacher’s task, as presumably the broader and more sym- 
pathetic man, to prevent such an ecclesiastical war by 
establishing the sympathetic co-operation, through which 
alone the right results can be obtained. 


6. THE PLAyinc oF Hymn TuNEsS 
There can be no good organ playing without plenty of 


100 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


practice on the hymn tunes. Practice on brilliant volun- 
taries will not take the place of it. The hymn tunes give 
opportunity for the dignity that is characteristic of the 
instrument; they also give opportunity for strong, con- 
secutive, smooth pedalling, as do few instrumental num- 
bers. The needed steadiness of attack and tempo, the 
variations of Jegato and staccato needed to keep the con- 
gregation up to time or to indicate in broad lines the 
proper expression called for by the sentiment of the sev- 
eral verses—all have both mental and digital value. 

It would be well if the organist should memorise thor- 
oughly at least fifty of the most used tunes. He would be 
able to watch the hymn more closely and adapt his playing 
to its sentiment more fully. In depressing weather he can 
then make the singing easier for the congregation by 
transposing the tune a half or even a whole step lower. 
He could also adapt himself in case the congregation flats. 


7. INTERLUDES 


Many organists are unduly fond of interludes. ‘They 
play a long one after each verse and so waste very valu- 
able time. Usually a single interlude in a hymn of four 
or five verses is ample. The habit of always playing an 
interlude before the last verse is absurdly mechanical.® 
Too much depends on the development of the thought of 


* The interlude before the last verse of a hymn has a curious 
origin. Up to half a century ago it was still the custom for the 
minister in the Established Church to wear his white robes during 
the reading of service and lessons and to preach in black robes. 
During the hymn sung before the sermon the needed change was 
made in the vestry. The interlude was played before the last 
verse as a signal for him to enter the pulpit. The change of robes 
has passed away, but the penultimate interlude persists and has 
spread to non-liturgical churches. 


THE ORGANIST 101 


the hymn. To divide the last two intimately associated 
verses of the hymn, “ Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed,” 
with a long interlude is sheer wickedness. Interludes are 
in place only where there is a definite cleavage in the line 
of thought. If there is a marked change in the emotional 
character of the verses, an interlude will serve admirably 
to make the necessary transition. 

An interlude is valuable only as it is made valuable by 
thoughtfulness and adaptation to the purpose for which 
the hymn is sung. To treat it only as a breathing place 
for the choir and congregation, and to make it a vague 
groping after ideas that do not materialise into a definite 
contribution to the song service, is all the more unfortu- 
nate that it is so common. The best the minister can do 
in such a case is to consult with the organist regarding the 
proper place for an interlude, and reduce his thoughtless 
interruption to the smallest space of time possible. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. Why is care in the selection of an organist important? 

. What share should the pastor ‘have in his selection? 

. What musical qualifications should an organist have? 

What personal traits are essential? 

. Should the organist also be the director? 

. Why should organists submit to a formal examination? 

What nine points are suggested as a basis for examination? 

_ State what the organist’s official and personal relations should 
be to the pastor. 

9, What is needed for good hymn tune playing? 

0. Why does an organist play over the tune before the congre- 
gation sings? 

11. Why should an organist memorize the more usual tunes ? 

12. What discrimination should be used in playing interludes? 


ONIAMPRWN 


VII 
THE ORGANIST (Conctupep) 


Class Room Suggestions: Persuade some bright organist to play 
for the class, illustrating vividly the faults against which warning 
is given. A little exaggeration will do no harm, nor will a touch 
of humour. The trouble may be to find an organist who is not 
himself guilty of some of these objectionable faults. 


8. THE ACCOMPANYING OF SoLos 


a, Sympathetic Understanding. An organist’s ability 
to accompany soloists well is of prime importance.! It 
is important that the organist shall be a good accompan- 
ist rather than merely a good solo player, although, if he 
is both, so much the better. The work of the soloists 
depends very much on the proper playing of the accom- 
paniment. There is a comradeship between a soloist and 
his sympathetic, comprehending team-mate, the organist, 
that makes for kindly relations, and, what is even more 
important, assures the full effect on the audience. The 
organist knows just what the soloist is trying to do and 
supplies not only the tonal basis, but the atmosphere of 
feeling, the background of nervous impression, needed to 
intensify the impression. The accompaniment helps the 
singer to sing better, the audience to hear and understand 
better. 

b. Adaptation to Soloist’s Tempo. The organist should 
have no tempo of his own; the singer supplies that. 


* What is here said of accompanying soloists is equally pertinent 
to accompanying the choir under a director, mutatis mutandis, of 
course. 


102 


THE ORGANIST 103 


Colla voce is the slogan of the accompanist, not only in 
time but in force, in style of attack, in the nuances of 
phrasing, in the contrasts and climaxes, developed. 
The ad lib. of the soloist must have absolute respect and 
co-operation, 

c. Registration, The soloist must have the right of 
way in the registration as well—just enough organ to 
support the voice and enhance its expression, no more. 
Some organists brutally extinguish the soloist by using 
the full organ. 

What stops shall be drawn depends on both the size and 
quality of the voice. A great, sonorous voice will bear the 
louder stops; a tender, sympathetic voice of less power 
will call for the softer stops. It goes without special em- 
phasis that the character of the song will exercise a con- 
trolling influence on the registration, as it does on the 
singer’s voice. There should be no fancy registration to 
attract attention away from the singer. The touches of 
imitation of the phrases of the solo in the accompaniment 
may be slightly stressed by the momentary use of a solo 
stop that is not too obtrusive. Instead of changing the 
registration when a stronger tone is called for by the 
greater emotional stress of a line, or verse, it may be best 
simply to increase the amount of tone by doubling some 
of the four notes of each chord. When the occasion 
for the added force has passed, it will be easy to return 
to the regular four parts. In general, the putting over 
to the audience the message and the emotion of the 
song, is the one important goal, not the merely musical 
effect. 

“ Word painting ” in the registration of the accompani- 
ment of either the congregational hymns, or of the solo, is 
very rarely in place. It attracts too much attention and so 
blurs the impression. ‘The effect is not musical but intel- 


104 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


lectual in character, and checks the emotional momentum. 
Only in broad lines of changes in the sentiment of the text 
will changes of registration be called for. 

d. Alertness in Following Soloist’s Interpretation, A 
good accompanist must needs be not only a good sight 
reader, but quick in his “uptake ” of the soloist’s spirit, 
interpretation, and purpose. Emergencies arise when 
visiting soloists become available, or sudden changes of 
program are needful, and this quick adaptation is all- 
important. A dull, mechanical organist will inevitably 
fail under such a strain. 


9. ComMON FAuLt's IN ORGAN PLAYING 


There are a number of very common faults against 
which the average organist needs to be warned. 

a. Initial Pedal Notes. Never start a hymn tune or 
voluntary with a long-drawn-out pedal note. Its use 
ordinarily has no justification and is meaningless. On 
rare occasions when the voices would have no other clue 
to the pitch of the composition or the movement to be 
sung, it may be useful. As a mere mannerism, it is 
annoying. 

b. Extended Final Pedal Notes. Do not hold on to the 
pedal note after the other parts have ceased. Usually it is 
absurd. Only in the rarest compositions, when their 
nature justifies it, is it permissible. The reverse is equally 
obnoxious. Do not leave the high notes sounding after 
the lower ones cease. 

c. Undue Use of Pedals. There are organists who are 
not happy unless the pedals are always roaring. They 
would not hesitate to play a composition without using the 
Swell or the Great, but to omit the pedals would seem to 
them like playing a mere reed organ. Two organists out 
of three use the pedals too much, too obtrusively. Their 


THE ORGANIST 105 


value is lessened or even obliterated by excessive use. 
This is particularly true of quiet voluntaries and hymn 
tunes. Where a large body of tone is called for, in the 
case of brilliant music, or in accompanying a large con- 
gregation, they are indispensable, of course. Even in 
softer compositions the pedals may prove invaluable. 
Warning is given only against the merely mechanical and 
unmusical use of them.? 

d. Anticipating First Note of Hymn Tune. The preva- 
lent habit of giving the cue to the pitch of the first note of 
the melody by striking it in advance at the beginning of 
each verse is very offensive and unnecessary ; unnecessary, 
because the congregation carries over its consciousness of 
the tonality and because as a signal to begin it is too ob- 
trusive. The piercing tone is disturbing in its own effect, 
as being out of relation as far as form is concerned. Strik- 
ing the note a half step lower as an appoggiatura is even 
worse. In dealing with children, striking the first note 
may have some value.? Striking a pedal note has more 


*“One of the commonest faults is to keep the pedals forever 
booming, and when to this is added the atrocious habit of playing 
mostly in the lowest octave, it becomes well-nigh intolerable. 
Give the pedals a rest once in a while on the quieter verses and 
observe what a fine effect they have when added dignity and 
weight are desired.”—P. C. Lutkin in “ Music in the Church.” 

*Dudley Buck, reprobating the practice in his valuable book, 
“Choir Accompaniment,” gives a philosophical basis for his criti- 
cism: “Instead of the pedal entering upon the second half of the 
measure (in his illustration really the second half of the measure 
preceding the actual beginning of the tune), the Great Organ 
enters abruptly upon the second half of the measure with the 
upper note of the harmony alone. This is very objectionable 
except in the rarest cases, but is far too frequently heard in our 
churches. It is illogical, in that the foundation should come first 
and not the superstructure. The chord should be built up from 
its fundamental tone to be agreeable to the ear.” 


106 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


plausibility, but may be disturbing as well. Lifting the 
hands from the keys for a beat is notification enough to 
the choir and congregation that the next verse is to follow 
at once. 

e. Lack of Proper Phrasing. A most reprehensible 
fault displayed by some organists is to omit the punctua- 
tion of the compositions they play, that is to say, the 
phrasing. The touch of the organ does not lend itself to 
good articulation of the component parts of an organ 
number. All the more reason that care should be taken 
to neutralise this defect. It can be done by drawing 
breath, as it were, that is, lifting the hands for a moment 
at the close of each phrase. Otherwise the music will be 
unintelligible, just as a printed page would be without 
stops and without spates between the words. This applies 
to both voluntaries and ‘hymn tunes. 

In the accompaniment of the hymn tunes, the organist 
should punctuate the several verses differently, according 
to their sense, by lifting his hands a moment at the right 
place. This will often be very effective. 

f. Arpeggio Accompaniment. Occasionally an organist 
displays a vulgar taste by breaking up the solid chords of 
a hymn tune into twinkling arpeggios, destroying its mas- 
sive dignity and weakening the support for the congrega- 
tion. Where a line or two or a verse are given to a soloist, 
this may be permitted, if smoothly done, and with reduced 
registration of the organ. 

g. Incessant Full Organ. One of the most offensive 
faults of many organists is their habit of using the full 
organ in season and chiefly out of season. They not only 
submerge the soloists whom they accompany, but the con- 
gregation in the hymns. The exasperating phase is that 
one hears it in some of the “ best ” churches whose organ- 
ists might be expected to have more musical sense. ‘The 


THE ORGANIST 107 


writer has been disturbed in his devotions by the bellow- 
ing organ in churches on Fifth Avenue, New York City, 
and on Tremont Street, Boston. It is an ancient evil, 
going back even beyond Rey. Arthur Bedford, Chaplain 
to the Duke of Bedford, who wrote as follows in 1711: 
“It would be very convenient in parochial churches that 
the organist did not play so loud while the congregation 
is singing. The full organ is generally too loud for a 
congregation and drowns the voices that they are not 
heard. . . . It is the opinion of all judges of music that 
the softest is the best and I am sure it will be the greatest 
help in singing. Art was only intended to help nature and 
not to overbear it, and instruments were designed to aid 
our voices, not to drown them.” Quoted in Curwen’s 
“ Studies in Worship Music,” First Series.* 


h. Too Frequent Change of Registration. It is a mis- 
take to be changing the registration too constantly. Too 
much thought given the tone colour distracts the organist 
and prevents concentration on the expression of the un- 
derlying feeling of the music. There is no sustained inter- 
est ; the effect is choppy; the listener is impressed by the 
tone colour at the expense of the music. Registration 
should be changed only when the music compels it by 
change of form or of effect. It should never be made in 
the course of a phrase, always in time for its first note. 

Dr. Orlando A. Mansfield, well known on two conti- 
nents for his scholarly writings on music, as well as for 


*“T use my reed organ just to support my own voice or the 
voices of the choir. But oh! the rushing and the roaring of the 
organ that often greets me when I attend a church. The din is 
sometimes so great that I cannot sing. If the organists must make 
a noise, let them play a solo. When voices are singing, voices 
ought to be at the top.”—Ira D. Sankey as quoted in Curwen’s 
‘Studies in Worship Music.” Second Series. 


108 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


his thoughtful compositions, animadverts on this serious 
fault in the following terms: “Some organists seem to 
imagine that virtue can only exist in a method of registra- 
tion which shall be as varied in colour as was Joseph’s 
coat, or as frequent in its changes as a weather-cock or a 
kaleidoscope. Judicious and rapid change of registration 
is, of course, one of the many signs of a good organist. 
It is also an effectual preventive of monotony in tone 
colour. But frequent and unnecessary changes of regis- 
tration are at once senseless and irritating, especially if 
introduced at a mere change of words rather than of 
sentiment in the vocal text, and if conducted with a 
certain amount of delay and deliberation instead of 
promptness and spontaneity.” 

t. Closing Stops in Improper Order. In reducing the 
force of the registration, care should be observed to close 
the stops in the proper order. If mixtures are in use, they 
are pushed in first, then the two foot stops, then the four 
foot stops, then the supplementary eight foot stops. To 
close the four foot stops first would leave too wide a gap 
between the eight foot stops and the mixtures and two 
foot stops that are still sounding. 

j. Abuse of Tremolo Stop. The tremolo stop should 
not be abused. To use it with anything but the softest 
stops is in vulgar, disgusting taste. To use it invariably 
with soft passages shows lack of genuine musical feeling. 
When used with exceeding restraint, only when the music 
is extremely emotional, it has its infrequent place. Excess 
of tremolo is “flapperism” in music. Exactly the same 
may be said of the frequent use of the “ Vox Humana ” 
stop or the “ Chimes.” 

k. Ineffective Improvising Should Be Avoided. Unless 
there is special aptitude and thorough preparation for 
extemporisation, it had better not be indulged in, except 


THE ORGANIST 109 


for a few measures as interlude, or to cover the noise of 
late comers after the long prayer.° Like extempore 
prayer, and extempore public address, successful musical 
extemporising is passing out. Our general performance 
of music is too formal, too conscious of fixed standards, 
to create the attitude of spontaneity needful for good 
improvising. 

1. Reducing Organ on Last Chord. The habit of reduc- 
ing the organ gradually on the last chord, leaving the pedal 
note sounding alone at last, is not merely old-fashioned, it 
has no artistic justification. 

m. Abuse of Crescendo Pedal. Clarence Eddy, a name 
to juggle with in organists’ circles, says when the organist 
has fully conquered his instrument and its possibilities, 
then, and not till then, “ the Crescendo Pedal may be util- 
ised as an adjunct with increased artistic results. But, 
like the Tremolo, it should be used very sparingly and 
with much discrimination.” ‘The Crescendo Pedal is “a 
lazy man’s pedal ” to which he takes refuge when he does 
not know how else to bring out a climax. 

n. See-sawing on Swell Pedal. Perhaps one of the 
worst habits an organist can acquire is to keep his right 
foot persistently on the Swell Pedal and to nervously 
see-saw up and down on it as if it were the pedal of a 
reed organ. The left foot has all the responsibility for the 


5 The organ should be used more than it is to cover hiatuses in 
the service. After the prayer and its response by the choir, the 
organist should play a few measures to prevent the distraction of 
the minds of the congregation while late-comers troop in. A few 
measures after the singing of the hymns will cover the disturbance 
made by the congregation in being seated. The purpose is not 
simply to cover disorder, but to carry over the emotional mo- 
mentum that had been previously secured, unchecked by distract- 
ing impressions. 


110 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


pedal part, and, in spite of heel and toe, usually makes 
rather a mess of it.6 Sir Frederick Bridge says of it, “as 
far as accent is concerned, good results may be obtained 
by a judicious use of the Swell Pedal, but this must be 
done with great judgment or the well-known pumping 
effect, so abhorrent to all good players, will be the inevi- 
table result.” He further says that “ not only is the musi- 
cal effect bad, but the habit induced of pedalling with one 
foot only is in every way objectionable.” 

0. Contortions on Organ Bench. Another unfortunate 
fault, especially if the player is in full sight of the audi- 
ence, is to indulge in violent movements of the head and 
shoulders, sometimes of the whole body. ‘These contor- 
tions greatly lessen the value of the music, because they 
distract the attention of the hearer from the religious 
service and produce amusement instead of devotion. 
“ The first thing to be learned on reaching the organ,” Sir 
John Stainer shrewdly remarks, “is how to sit.” 


10. KEEPING AN INDEX oF ORGAN Music 


The organist should make and keep up to date an index 
to his music. Most organists have a much larger stock of 
music on hand than they realise. Some of the older books 


*“To play the bass part of a tune on the pedal, an organist 
must be able to pedal with both feet and also with heel and toe. 
The inability to do this leads many organists to form the very 
reprehensible habit of dropping out the pedal notes whenever they 
are difficult of execution. The effect of this plan upon the listener 
is much the same as if the bass singer in a quartet were to stop 
singing about every third beat, and leave the soprano, alto and 
tenor hanging in the air like Mahomet’s coffin.”—Mrs. E. L, Ash- 
ford in “The Choir Leader.” Better drop out the pedals alto- 
gether and depend on the manual for the bass support. An 
occasional erratic “boom” from the pedal disturbs rather than 
helps. 


THE ORGANIST 111 


and sheet music that have been covered with later pur- 
chases have desirable unused voluntaries. A card catalog 
of this unexploited music with needed index to make it 
available would be a most valuable aid. It would save 
money ; it would save much time, very much more than 
that spent on the inventory, by making random searching 
during the year unnecessary. Moreover, the selections 
would likely be more varied and more appropriate. 


11. Orcanists UNDERPAID 


Our organists are not paid enough. Church officials do 
not realise that in accepting cheap or free organists they 
are cheapening their whole church service. They dis- 
courage competent musicians from learning to master the 
organ and so reduce the number of really efficient organ- 
ists. The organist who is also director ought to put in as 
much time in his personal practice at home, in the church, 
and in his work at rehearsals and at services, as does the 
janitor. His work calls for special ability of a high char- 
acter and for expensive preparatory training. Coupling 
the two is a derogation of the organist’s dignity, but as a 
comprehensible basis twice the remuneration of the church 
janitor is suggested, except where the building is large and 
complicated and in constant use; where they may be the 
same. Half the salary of the minister would be a better 
standard as more widely applicable. 


12. Movrors For OrGANIS’S 


On an organ in a remote German village, three mottoes 
are carved that organists everywhere may ponder over. 
Across the top of the keyboard may be found: 

“ Thou playest here not for thyself, thou playest for the 
congregation; so the playing should elevate the heart, 
should be simple, earnest and pure.” 


112 THE PIPE ORGAN AND THE ORGANIST 


Above the right hand row of registers appears the 
following : 

“The organ tone must ever be adapted to the subject of 
the song; it is for thee, therefore, to read the hymn en- 
tirely through so as to catch its true spirit.” 

Over the left register knobs is found the admonition: 

“In order that the playing shall not bring the singing 
into confusion, it is becoming that thou listen sometimes, 
and as thou hearest thou wilt be likelier to play as God’s 
people sing.” 

These ancient German exhortations are still pertinent 
here in America in our own day and generation. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. Who should control the organist’s tempo, force and registra- 
tion in accompanying a solo? 

. What adaptation should the organist seek in his registration? 

. Why is alertness in adaptation important in an organist? 

What warnings are given regarding use of pedal notes? 

Why is careful phrasing important? How is it done? 

. Why should the full organ not be used incessantly? 

. Why should too frequent change of registration be avoided? 

. In what order should stops be closed? 

. When should the “ Tremolo” stop, “ Vox Humana” stop and 
the “Chimes” be used? 

10. Why is the “Crescendo Pedal” called the “lazy man’s 

pedal”? 

11. How is the Swell Pedal frequently abused? 

12. Why should excessive motion of the body be avoided? 

13. What is the value of an index of organ music on hand? 

14. How should the organist’s salary be estimated? 

15. Give German mottoes for organists. 


— 


WOW ONAMARWHN 


PAR ITT 
CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


“Tt is indeed remarkable that we are so prone to overlook the 
good we possess, and to run after that which is perverse. For we 
have within the Church itself the simplest and grandest materials 
for a climax worthy of divine worship,—namely, the whole con- 
gregation. Let but the choir sing, ‘ Hallelujah, Amen, from the 
organ loft or the chancel, and let the whole congregation respond 
with a sublimely simple, ‘ Hallelujah, Amen; and one may imagine 
oneself transported to heaven; and further, one may realise that 
this is the manner in which God himself is worshipped in heaven.” 
—Thibaut: “On Purity in Musical Art.” 


Vill 


THE DUTY AND VALUE OF CONGREGA- 
TIONAL SINGING 


Supplementary Reading: Waldo S. Pratt, ‘“‘ Musical Ministries,” 
The Fleming H. Revell Co., New York; F. G. Edwards, ‘‘ United 
Praise,” J. Curwen & Sons, London; Peter C. Lutkin, “ Music in 
the Church,” The Young Churchman Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; I. E. 
Reynolds, “ Manual of Practical Church Music,” S. S. Board of 
the Southern Baptist Convention, Nashville, Tenn.; J. S. Curwen, 
“ Studies in Worship Music,” First and Second Series, J. Curwen 
& Sons, London; Carl Engel, “Reflections on Church Music,” 
Gustav Schauerman & Co., London; Washington Gladden, 
“ Parish Problems,” The Century Co., New York. 


1. Tur Duty oF PRrAIsING Gop 


Excellence of every kind calls for recognition and ap- 
preciation. It brings joy to the creator and the perceiver 
of it alike. A person’s grade of culture is measured by his 
recognition and appreciation of excellence in art, music, 
architecture, natural scenery, science, philosophy, litera- 
ture, poetry, and in the adaptation of means to ends as in 
electricity, engineering, machinery and agriculture. In- 
crease of culture is sought by increasing the capacity to 
apprehend and to praise that which is excellent. The con- 
summate note of culture is not only to appreciate fully, 
but to express that appreciation in an adequate and 
impressive way. 

If this is true of things human and finite, how much 
more is it true of the infinite perfections of the divine 
nature. Here are infinite existence, infinite power, infinite 
wisdom, infinite truth, infinite holiness, infinite justice, 
infinite mercy, infinite sympathy—the fundamentals of an 


115 


116 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


infinitely admirable personality and character. God, 
therefore, deserves recognition, appreciation, praise to an 
infinite degree as his own immediate right. 

Add to this the relation of a creature to its Creator, of 
a dependent to its Provider and Preserver, and the obli- 
gation of praise is multiplied many times. Add further 
the obligation of a redeemed sinner to his Saviour, and 
the sense of obligation to magnify and praise becomes 
even more poignant. 

Hence the Word of God, in its increasing demand for 
the recognition of God’s supreme sovereignty, and of His 
infinite perfections,? and for supreme homage and ascrip- 
tions of praise to be paid Him by all creatures, at all 
times, and everywhere, has an Sri of equity no normal 
man can gainsay. 

a. Praising God the Duty of All To praise God is the 
supreme duty of all persons. Each one to the full meas- 
ure of his ability is called upon to recognise the divine 
perfections. The measure of his spiritual growth is his 
ability to recognise and appreciate them. 

b. The Duty to Enhance God’s Praise by Co-operation 
with Others. But as individual power is increased by 
co-operation, each being stimulated and inspired by the 
others joining in his exercises of praise, the duty of 
co-operation becomes very plain. The aggregate of 
praise is not merely arithmetical, for each one reaches 


* Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice; and let men 
say among the nations, The Lord reigneth.—1 Chron. 16: 31. 

* Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above 
all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in 
us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout 
all ages, world without end. Amen.—Eph. 3:20. Unto the King 
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and 
glory forever and ever. Amen.—1 Tim. 1:17. 


VALUE OF CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 117 


a height of joy and admiration and of intensity of ap- 
preciation he could not have attained alone. When a 
single voice is uplifted, there is inspiration and uplift in 
it; but when a thousand voices join, there is a majesty, 
a high solemnity, a rapture in the praise that carries the 
susceptible soul to the uppermost peaks of its spiritual 
possibilities. 

c. Praise That is Sung Better Than Spoken Praise. 
This co-operation in praise may be spoken as well as sung, 
but valuable as responsively spoken praise may be made, it 
is by no means as impressive as praise that is sung; first, 
because the co-operation cannot be made as perfect and 
spontaneous, and, secondly, because the nervous stimulus 
of the music is wanting. 

d. The Limitations of Praising by Proxy. To praise 
by proxy, by the officiating priest, or by a choir, lacks the 
physical, mental and spiritual stimulus of personal par- 
ticipation, and the soul cannot spread its wings of devo- 
tion. There is present the distraction of the beauty, or 
the faultiness, of the rendition, the sense that it is not 
wholly in accord with one’s own feeling, and above all 
there is the lack of self-expression. Only by personal 
effort and exercise of one’s own powers, self-conscious 
and heedless of others, does the soul take its highest 
flights in the adoration of God. 

e. Congregational Praise Can Be Used Everywhere. 
It is one advantage of congregational singing that it can 
be had everywhere, no matter what the musical conditions 
are. The congregation may consist of a dozen or half a 
hundred persons; it may meet on the street or in a cathe- 
dral; it may lack instrumental support or be led by a great 
organ or orchestra, | 

f. Congregational Singing is the Most Efficient Praise. 
Congregational singing, therefore, is the most efficient 


118 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


form of united praise.? All can join, whatever their indi- 
vidual deficiencies, for in the composite song these defi- 
ciencies are submerged; they even add an element of 
enrichment. All can sing, for there is no one listening to 
the individual voice to make the singer self-conscious or 
diffident. 

The minister represents the people in his prayer, ex- 
pressing their needs, their holy aspirations, their more 
intimate devotions. ‘The choir represents the people in 
their choral praise and prayer, and lifts them to a higher 
plane of devotion. But the congregational song is their 
own song, their immediate expression, the climacteric note 
of thanksgiving and praise. Properly led and properly 
inspired, the congregational hymn is the very peak of 
devotion in the whole services. 

g. Objections to Congregational Singing. ‘There is 
often a rather loud outcry against congregational singing 
because of its frequent cacophony, its artistic shortcom- 
ings, its lack of expression. It is almost shocking to find 
the elder Thomas Hastings, one of the fathers of 
American hymnody, argue against it in his treatise on 
“ Musical Taste,” and he has many echoes in these more 
modern days. 

But the criterion of successful congregational singing 


*“ Congregational singing is the most practicable as well as the 
most important department of church music. Its glories are 
within the reach of every active parish. Its restoration as a uni- 
versal custom is certain, and its supremacy among the forms of 
church music is only a question of spirituality in Christian work. 
Its establishment involves no risk or undue expense, and its suc- 
cess can bring with it no dangers. On the contrary, its main- 
tenance is almost of necessity a distinct and powerful spur to the 
religious life of the parish, refreshing, cheering, and edifying all 
who come within its influence.’—Waldo S. Pratt in “ Parish 
Problems.” 


VALUE OF CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 119 


is not its artistic musical value, but its effect on the 
congregation itself. Hence this adverse criticism is 
beside the point, because it applies standards of attack 
and expression to which only trained choirs with plenty 
of practice under competent direction could hope to 
attain. 

There should be no mistake! Congregational singing is 
not cultivated for the purpose of securing artistic results 
pleasing to cultivated ears. The primary purposes are 
worship, inspiration and even exhortation, all religious in 
character. It is desirable that it should be musical in 
effect, but if the primary purposes are secured, the lack of 
artistic value is not serious. 

Musically fastidious people whose sole criterion of 
music is that it shall please them, often rail at con- 
gregational singing as rude and offensive —not intelli- 
gent and broad-minded enough to comprehend its true 
purpose. 

“ God is a spirit, and they that worship him must wor- 
ship him in spirit and in truth.” God is not concerned 
with the mere vibrations of air or other resilient matter, 
as some would have us believe. He is not an infinitely 
fastidious musical critic noting the faults of intonation or 
of expression, but a spirit, regarding the things of the 
spirit. That music which will spiritualise His creatures 
most fully is the music most acceptable to Him, be the 
individual voices ever so harsh and discordant. 


2. CONGREGATIONAL SINGING THE IDEAL ForRM oF 
CuurcHu Music 


The ideal form of church music, after all, is congrega- 
tional singing, where every voice is lifted in praise and 
thanksgiving, in prayer and petition, in inspiration and 
encouragement, and in earnest witness for divine truth. 


120 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


It is an audible representation of the communion of saints. 
In no other exercise, not even in prayer, is there such com- 
munion, such fellowship of feeling, as in the congrega- 
tional hymn when all are singing. It is not strange that 
in all ages of the church, even when music was at its 
rudest, it should have been cultivated and encouraged. 


3. RECOGNIZED IN ALL AGES 


a. The Old Testament Age. At the crossing of the Red 
Sea by the Israelites, and at the destruction of the hosts of 
Pharaoh, the song of victory and rejoicing by the children 
of Israel under the leadership of Moses was general. Of 
this there is a full report (Ex. 15: 1-19), while the singing 
of Miriam and her women’s chorus is treated as a mere 
episode (Ex. 15: 20-21). When David sought to bring 
back the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, all the 
people participated in the music. At the dedication of 
Solomon’s temple, it was the song of the people that 
struck the consummate note when the fire came down and 
the glory of the Lord appeared in the temple. The Psalms 
are full of intimations that the people joined in the musi- 
cal service of the temple. , 

b. The Apostolic and Early Patristic Age. In the 
apostolic and early patristic periods of the church the 
only intimations of the use of music clearly indicate a 
purely congregational song service.* 

When the song was taken from the congregation and 


*“An author towards the close of the second century could 
appeal against the Artemonites to a multitude of hymns in proof 
of the faith of the church in the divinity of Christ: ‘How many 
psalms and odes of the Christians are there not, which have been 
written from the beginning by believers, and which in their the- 
ology, praise Christ as the Logos of God.’ ”’—Schaff’s “ History of 
the Christian Church.” Vol. II, p. 228. 


VALUE OF CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 121 


given to choirs of monks and of boys, it was both a 
symptom of the decaying religious life and an additional 
cause for its future and more rapid decay. 

c. The Gregorian Age. It is no mere coincidence that 
the great missionary movement under Gregory the Great 
was accompanied by a development of the church’s music 
that laid the foundations for the worship of the ages. The 
Gregorian system was carried to the ends of Europe by 
the devoted missionaries sent out from Rome. True, the 
clergy carried the great body of song in the cathedrals at 
home, but in the wilds of Northern Europe the people in 
that age still had a voice in the worship. 

d. The Age of the Reformation. ‘The German Refor- 
mation had no more striking manifestation of the change 
of spirit and conception of the religious life than in the 
restoration of the congregational hymn. And among the 
common people it was not so much the doctrine preached, 
not so much a sense of the imperfection and unworthiness 
of the Roman Church, as it was the congregational hymn, 
in which all could participate, that swept the masses into 
the fold of the reformers. This was recognised by 
Luther’s enemies, who said that he did more harm by his 
hymns than he did by his sermons, while Coleridge ex- 
presses his judgment that ‘“‘ Luther did as much for the 
Reformation by his hymns as by his translation of the 
Bible.” 

e. The Age of the Wesleys. The great English Refor- 
mation under the Wesleys was likewise a singing reforma- 
tion. They had no new doctrine to preach, for the 
Wesleys were doctrinally not far from the Anglican 
Church and differed from it only in putting spiritual 
vitality into the practical Arminianism that already con- 
trolled the thought of England. It was the spiritual 
hymns which they produced, and which were sung from 


122 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


one end of Great Britain to the other, that gave promi- 
nence to the whole movement. 

f. The New England Revival. The New England re- 
vival, in which Jonathan Edwards bore so prominent a 
part, is so associated in our minds with his severe and 
even harsh doctrinal preaching, that it comes as a surprise 
to know how large a place congregational singing had in it. 
The testimony of Edwards himself to its value is clear: 
“Our public praises were then greatly enlivened. God 
was then served in our psalmody, in some measure, in the 
beauty of holiness. It has been observable that there has 
been scarce any part of divine worship wherein good men 
among us have had grace so drawn forth, and their hearts 
so lifted up in the ways of God, as in singing His praises ; 
our congregation excelled all that I ever knew in the 
external part of the duty before,—but now they were 
evidently wont to sing with unusual elevation of heart and 
voice, which made the duty pleasant indeed.” 

g. The Revival Under Moody. ‘The revival work of 
Moody and Sankey in America and in Great Britain was 
accompanied by such musical manifestations, by such 
unanimous delight in the songs that they popularised, that 
it might be said of Sankey as it was of Charles Wesley, 
that his work was not very much less influential than that 
of his more preeminent coadjutor. 

h. In Our Own Time. The aggressive movements of 
our own day have been accompanied by popular singing. 
Our great popular religious conventions are inspired and 
thrilled with congregational song. Our evangelists organ- 
ise their musical forces as carefully and thoroughly as 
they do their personal workers’ staff. Mr. Sunday would 
find himself shorn of half his power to move great com- 
munities without Mr. Rodeheaver’s genius and skill in 
persuading everybody to sing. Mr. Sankey was a singing 


VALUE OF CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 123 


orator and his singing of solos was more than half his 
public power; but Mr. Rodeheaver’s success is entirely 
based on the use of congregational song, for his choirs 
are merely sections of the great congregation. 


4, ‘Tur REASONS For Its POWER 


a. Its Impressiveness. It is not difficult to see why the 
congregational hymn should have such value. Any one - 
who has listened to a congregation that fully participated 
in the song cannot but have been impressed by its dignity 
and power. 

It does not greatly matter what the music is; the most 
shallow ditty when taken up by a great congregation sud- 
denly rises to a dignity that seemed utterly foreign to its 
character before. It 1s exalted and sublimated not only 
by the volume of the sound which is so physically thrilling, 
but by the enthusiastic and hearty and sympathetic com- 
munion of the great assembly. Hence it is that the very 
shallow and artistically vapid “Hold the Fort,” when 
sung by the great gatherings under Moody, had such over- 
whelming impressiveness. The same is true of the use of 
“ Brighten the Corner Where You Are,” by Rodeheaver 
in the Billy Sunday meetings. 

b. Its Organising Power. Congregational singing in 
which all unite unifies the congregation. Every one is 
thinking the same thoughts, having the same feelings, 
doing the same things in which all the rest are engaged. 
The individual is lost in the mass and is affected and 
swayed by the common reaction to what is done and said. 
The congregation becomes a great instrument on which 
the leader or speaker may play, assured of the desired 
impression. Such a responsiveness is established, such a 
knitting of the sympathetic natures of the assembly, such a 
unifying of the otherwise indifferent or antagonistic indi- 


124 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


vidualities, that the minister no longer has a mob of unre- 
lated personalities to deal with, but a great organism into 
which the units have been welded. 

c. Its Stimulation of the Minds of the Hearers. ‘The 
great wave of vibration affects the nervous systems of the 
hearers and stimulates heart and brain to greater activity. 
There is greater power of apprehension, greater respon- 
siveness to appeals to the feelings, stronger impulses of the 
will. The more enthusiastic the singing, the profounder 
the preparation for the coming message. 

Congregational singing is the means of the individual’s 
self-expression ; that expression affects the singer as much 
as it does the hearer. That others participate with him, 
and that he feels the effects of their co-operation, only 
stimulates his own emotion and its expression, and so in- 
creases its subjective force.® 

d. Religious Effect on the Individual Singer. Further- 
more, true congregational singing will react upon the souls 
of the individual singers, becoming a veritable moment of 
transfiguration, sharpening their spiritual apprehension, 
stimulating their religious feelings, and leading to fresh or 
renewed determination of loyalty to God and His laws. 

e. Influence of Congregational Singing on the Unsaved., 
The influence of really successful congregational singing 


5“Tt is not always remembered that congregational singing is 
emphatically an expressive form of music. Its purpose is not to 
affect the auditor, but to utter the emotions and thoughts of the 
singer. It neither aspires to artistic perfection nor offers itself to 
artistic criticism. Its whole nature is not objective, but subjective. 
Philosophically considered, it is quite the opposite of choral ora- 
torio music. Its best success depends primarily upon its univer- 
sality, and its fervour throughout the given assembly. These 
qualities are mightily enhanced, no doubt, by artistic excellence, 
both in music and in performance, but such excellence is a second- 
ary consideration.”—Waldo §S. Pratt in “ Parish Problems.” 


VALUE OF CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 125 


is exerted also upon the unsaved persons in the assembly. 
Even in the realm of natural psychic law, aside from the 
spiritual and divine influences that are above natural law, 
such a union of mind, feeling, and will, sublimated and 
concentrated, must have an extraordinary influence upon 
outsiders. But far above such elements of power, heart- 
felt congregational singing will bring genuine spiritual 
forces to bear upon the unsaved that will open up to them 
at least vague apprehensions of desirable spiritual things 
and generate in them genuinely religious impulses that 
lead them to God. 

f. The Influence of Congregational Singing on the Mtn- 
ister. ‘Then there is for the minister himself an inspira- 
tion in the congregational song that will key him up to his 
highest possibilities. The minister who can stand before 
a great congregation, and listen indifferently to its united 
voice, hardly has a place in the pulpit. While the song is 
preparing the congregation for him, it is also preparing 
him for the congregation. When such a congregation 
unites in the praise of the Almighty, the spirit of the min- 
ister cannot but wake to a deeper spiritual apprehension 
of the God whose servant he is.® 

g. Congregational Singing an Act of Worship. But 
there are higher results to be obtained from the congrega- 
tional song than the mere preparation of congregation and 


6° Mr. John S. Curwen, in his “ Studies in Worship Music,” re- 
lates an experience with the famous organist, Henry Smart, illus- 
trating the effect of congregational singing on a great musician: 
“Mr. Smart’s enthusiasm for the broad voice of the congregation 
was unbounded. As the service opened, he beckoned me to come 
and sit on the stool beside him. At the ‘Cantate Domino,’ the 
people began to make themselves heard. ‘Do you hear that?’ he 
said, as the sound rose from nave and gallery; ‘that, to my mind, 
is finer than any choir. And he played away, revelling in ae 
massive unison which he was accompanying.” 


126 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


minister for the discourse. There should be in it an actual 
communion with God, and a stirring of the soul that will 
vitalise its every spiritual power. It seems to the writer 
that no other devotional exercise of assembled saints can 
be so pleasing to God as the congregation lifting its united 
voice in His praise. The culminating moments in heaven’s 
worship, as portrayed in the Revelation, occur when the 
combined voices of “thousands of thousands” of angels 
and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth 
and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all 
that are in them, yea the great multitude which no man 
could number, sang the new song of accomplished 
redemption. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. What is the basis of the obligation to praise God? 

. Why should we unite with others in praising God? 

Why is praise that is sung called for in the Scriptures? 

What are the limitations of praising God by proxy? 

Give reasons for value of congregational singing. 

Who objects to congregational singing, and why? 

. What is the ideal form of church music, and why? 

. Give history of congregational singing. 

. Give illustrations of its value in the great revivals. 

. Give reasons for its powers. 

. Who are impressed by congregational singing, and how, and 
why? 

12. Why is God pleased with congregational singing? 


MP OoOMNAUAWNE 


a ar 


IX 
BUILDING UP CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


Class Room Suggestions: Three or four short papers by the 
more experienced and musical members of the class, bringing out 
illustrative experiences in building up the congregational singing, 
will have value in impressing this very important phase of the 
minister’s duties. If the illustrations should bring out vividly the 
laxity and indifference of some clergymen, so much the better. 


If the duty of praising God, individually and collect- 
ively, is recognised, and if congregational song is the most 
efficient method of bringing praise, it follows that any 
person or congregation neglecting it, or doing it ineffi- 
ciently, is guilty of a sin, the sin of robbing God of what 
is justly due Him. 

If congregational song is the most efficient method of 
praising God, then it should have the first attention of 
those responsible for the service of song. ‘That attention 
should be earnest and persistent, as much so as that of the 
minister to his sermonising. 


1, THE First EssenTIAL Is MINISTERIAL INTEREST 

The first step in building up congregational singing is 
to create an interest in it in the minister himself. He 
should have a deep sense of the duty, nay more, the joy 
of praise. A careful study of the Scriptures, and his own 
deep sense of what is due his Maker and Father, should 
awaken a consuming passion to make this part of the 
service, for the whole of which he is responsible, a glory 
to God and an unspeakable profit to his people. In most 
churches the criminal indifference of the preacher, as 


127 


128 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


manifested in his wretched management of the singing of 
hymns, and in the absence of any effort to improve it, or 
to make it appeal to his hearers and co-worshippers, is the 
chief cause of poor congregational singing. 

If the minister is full of the impulse to praise, his people 
will find it contagious and sing with him. If he is per- 
functory in his announcement of hymns and sits silent, 
they will generally be silent or, at best, be indifferent in 
their participation.’ 

Now a minister who finds little appeal in this part of 
his service should realise the sinfulness of this attitude 
and take himself in hand, as he would in the case of any 
other serious shortcoming. ‘To a minister without the 
impulse to praise and to inspire others to praise, God is 
not a reality but a speculative abstraction.* 

Moreover, the music is too important a part of the 


1Dr. Allon, to whom reference has already been made, says of 
the wonderful congregational singing of his people: “All I have 
done is to provide good hymns and tunes, to have plenty of prac- 
tice, and to encourage the congregation by quietly showing my 
interest in the psalmody. If I have had any advantage over 
others, it is in a taste for music and in possessing enough knowl- 
edge to enable me to exercise control with some little intelligence, 
and in a way which does not give offense.”—Curwen’s “ Studies 
in Worship Music.” First Series. 

2 Henry Ward Beecher, in his preface to the Plymouth Hymnal, 
one of the first hymnals, properly so called, which was issued, 
remarks on this point: “If ministers regard singing as but a 
decorous kind of amusement, pleasantly relieving or separating the 
more solemn acts of worship, it will always be degraded. The 
pastor, in many cases, in small rural churches, may be himself the 
leader. In larger societies, where a musical director is employed, 
the pastor should still be the animating centre of the music, en- 
couraging the people to take part in it, keeping before them their 
duty and their benefit in participating in this most delightful part 
of public worship.” 


BUILDING CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 129 


services of the house of God to be left to mere amateurs 
both in spirituality and music, but should have the close 
study and incessant supervision of the head of the local 
church, 1. e¢., the minister. ‘The minister should feel 
as responsible for the music of the service as for the 
preaching. 

Without the minister’s close supervision the music of 
the service will in most churches become futile and 
profitless, not irreligious, but unreligious. Artistically it 
may be good; it may add a pleasing attraction to the 
service, but its active religious value will be practically nil! 


2. AWAKENING INTEREST IN THE CONGREGATION 


Given such an abiding attitude of praise it must be 
passed on to the congregation. 

a. By Public Effort. There should be sermons on the 
various phases of praise, its inculcation and manifestations 
in the Scriptures, the abundant reasons for praise, the 
subjective reaction of earnest praise in spiritual growth, 
affording topics worthy of the most thoughtful and elo- 
quent preacher. The practical phases of congregational 
singing will be fruitful topics for sermons, short addresses 
in the midweek service, in the Sunday-school and in the 
Young People’s meeting. 

b. By Private Effort. But this effort to arouse his 
people to their solemn duty should not be public alone. As 
opportunity offers in private, he should refer to it in a 
casual or in a more purposeful way. Expressions of re- 
gret that the public service of song is inefficient, or of 
satisfaction when it has been unusually good, encourage- 
ment to persons who take a noticeable share in trying 
to make it successful, admonition to persons with good 
voices who fail to sing, outlining his ideals and ambi- 
tions for the congregational singing to persons whose 


130 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


co-operation is important,—all are helpful private ways 
of creating an interest in the hymn singing among his 
people. 

c. Why People Fail to Sing. This private personal 
work in behalf of congregational singing is all the more 
important, in view of the fact that many fail to sing be- 
cause of diffidence, excessive modesty, or actual prejudice. 
Many cultured people fail to sing, because they have got- 
ten out of the habit of singing. Their ideals of perform- 
ance have become so high through hearing trained soloists 
in concerts, and even through talking machines, that they 
despair of realising them and therefore refuse to sing. 

Unless the voice is one of those very rare raucous 
voices with no power to sing in varied and concordant 
pitch, all people, no matter how harsh or unpleasing their 
voices are, should be encouraged to sing, for their blem- 
ishes are submerged in the great composite voice of the 
congregation. High class voices with careful training are 
not essential to good congregational singing, although, of 
course, they will be a great help in leading and in keeping 
up the pitch. 

d. Creating a Sense of Obligation to Sing. Perhaps 
the most important result of the pastor’s private discus- 
sion of the singing of the congregation will be the creation 
of general interest and a sense of obligation among his 
people to sing. Consciously or unconsciously the influ- 
ential members of the church should be led to join the 
general propaganda in favour of the movement. 

e. Congregation Needed. Good congregational singing 
depends on a full congregation. Empty benches do not 
sing; they depress and discourage the few who are pres- 
ent and take away the impulse to sing. Good congrega- 
tions will make good singing and contra-wise, good singing 
will draw good congregations. 


BUILDING CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 131 


If congregational singing is desired one must get the 
congregation ° and must train it to sing. Nothing else will 
suffice. There may be a good choir, there may be a large 
organ, there may be cornets and horns and trombones, but 
if the congregation is not there or, if present, declines to 
sing, these helps are all worse than wasted. 


3. INCREASE SPIRITUALITY IN THE CONGREGATION 


In no way can congregational singing be developed more 
fully or more rapidly than by raising the standards of 
spirituality among the people. After all, the most im- 
perative impulse to sing must come from within. - Give 
the people a vision of God, and they will want to sing 
His praise. A sense of the infinite meaning and value of 
salvation from sin will make Jesus Christ so intense and 
intimate a reality that the congregation will delight to hail 
Him as Saviour and Master and to sing His praise with 
united heart and voice. Give them a realisation of the 
unspeakable need of the unsaved, and they will enter into 
the spirit of hymns of exhortation and invitation with 
deep emotion and earnestness. A spiritual congregation 
always sings well. An indifferent congregation will never 
sing well, no matter what plans or devices are used to 
build up the song service. Let it be clearly realised: poor 
singing argues low spirituality and the best reviver of con- 
gregational singing is a revival of religion.‘ 


4. Orren Not An Easy Task 
The building up of good congregational singing is not 


3“ The real way to improve psalmody is to increase the number 
of singers.”—Dr. J. Curwen. 

4“ The hymn singing of a congregation is almost an unfailing 
barometer of its spiritual condition. Good hymn singing is a sure 
indication of a wide awake and energetic parish. On the contrary, 


132 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


always an easy task, for some of the prerequisites are not 
to be secured without great effort. The congregation may 
be small. It may be afflicted with an inertia that blocks 
progress. It may be too highly cultured, or too respect- 
able to sing spontaneously. Dr. Curwen declared that 
congregational singing in England was “dying of re- 
spectability.”° Practically the same influence is at work 
in the United States. People are self-conscious and pride 
constrains them from exhibiting their unattractive voices 
or their lack of vocal training. But pertinacity of pur- 
pose, and persistence in effort, and faith in the Holy 
Spirit’s help will in due time win, and the preacher need 
not yield to despair.® 


5. Proreie To Bt INTERESTED 


Of all the people to be interested, the leader of the 
choir, the organist and the singers are the most important. 


poor hymn singing is an index of spiritual indifference and stag- 
nation.’—P. C. Lutkin in “ Music in the Church.” 

* The distinguished Scotch writer on musical subjects, J. Cuth- 
bert Hadden, recently deceased, discussing congregational singing 
in the churches of Great Britain, in the “ Choir Leader,” remarks: 
“The reason for the decay of congregational singing is two-fold: 
It lies, first, in the fact that a large number of the hymn tunes in 
our church collections are beyond the congregational capacity; 
and, second, in the fact that many people have conceived the idea 
that it is quite rude to join heartily in the praise.” 

*Henry Ward Beecher, in writing of the music in a Methodist 
service he had attended, says: “ The choir sang better than many 
choirs in city churches, but no one sang with them. The people 
were mute. They used their ears and not their mouths! But 
alas! we missed the old fervour, the good old-fashioned Methodist 
fire. We have seen the time when one of Charles Wesley’s hymns, 
taking the congregation by the hand, would have led them up to 
the gate of heaven. But yesterday it only led them up to the 
choir, about ten feet above the pews.” 


BUILDING CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 133 


The first mentioned is logically the precentor of the con- 
gregation. The organist has the control of the singing 
under his fingers. The singers of the choir are presum- 
ably the best singers of the congregation. Without the 
cordial and even enthusiastic support of this great battery 
of singers, little can be accomplished. 

a. Winning the Musical Leaders. The first strategic 
point to make is to win the choir leader and the organist 
by a thorough discussion of the situation and by an at- 
tractive statement by the pastor of what he has in mind. 
Then there will be opportunity for advice on the part of 
the musical officials regarding the best course and the most 
efficient methods to be pursued. The wise pastor will 
accept these suggestions in a most hospitable spirit and 
try them out as opportunity offers. 

The minister should make out his list of hymns and 
mail a copy to the choir director and one to the organist 
not later than Thursday evening. That will give time for 
their study and for the practise of them by the choir. 
Not to do this, one writer on the subject said was “ inde- 
cent and unfair,” and we would shade the sharpness of 
the expression only very slightly. The thoughtful pastor 
will discuss the selected hymns with the choir leader and 
organist, explaining just what effects he wishes to secure, 
analysing the sentiment of the hymns, canvassing the 
availability of the tunes provided in the hymnal, arranging 
for any unusual methods. 

b. Winning the Choir. While there is an occasional 
choral complex that rather antagonises congregational 
singing, because of narrowmindedness or of impractical 
ultra-fastidiousness of musical taste on the part of the 
director of the choir or of the organist, most choirs will 
respond at once to the pastor’s appeal for help. 

Then the choir should be used in order to bring out the 


134 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


sentiment most impressively. Sometimes a line, some- 
times a whole verse, by the whole choir, sometimes a solo 
or a duet by individual voices, where the tune provides an 
opportunity, will be very impressive as a contrast to the 
voice of the whole congregation, and at the same time 
make both the choir and the congregation feel the value 
of the co-operation. 

c. Working Through Other Departments of the 
Church. ‘The thoroughgoing pastor in his determination — 
to build up the singing of the congregation will not over- 
look the Sunday-school and the Young People’s meetings. 
Why not occasionally turn the prayer meeting into a 
service of song and invite the choir collectively or indi- 
vidually to assist in the learning of several new tunes? In 
all these gatherings he will arrange to have both old and 
new hymns and tunes which he wishes to feature in his 
congregational singing, sung again and again in a way 
that will make them attractive. These subordinate gather- 
ings will be all the better for the introduction of these 
hymns in an interesting and effective way. ‘This can be 
done without excluding the lively songs preferred by the 
younger folks, or the purely devotional Gospel music en- 
joyed by the older people. Indeed, both will be all the 
more valuable for their contrast with the congregational 
tunes. 

d. Enlisting Christian Homes. It will strengthen the 
hold of the church upon the people if the organising gifts 
of the pastor find expression in introducing sacred singing 
into the homes and social life of the people. If he will 
sing in his own home as friends come in, or as committees 
meet at his home, it will set a good example. 


6. Tur Duty oF THE CONGREGATION TO PREPARE 
a. Congregational Rehearsals, As the Bible enjoins 


BUILDING CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 185 


praise as a duty on the people of God oftener than it does 
either praying or preaching on the minister, we are com- 
pelled to recognise it as at least an equal obligation. If 
the minister is expected to prepare for his public work 
that he may do it efficiently, should not the congregation 
do likewise for its share of the service? 

But the holding of special meetings for practice in sing- 
ing hymn tunes has not been successful either with us here 
in America nor in England. In Germany the needed prac- 
tice is had in the public schools where the children are 
taught the standard chorales. 

Regular practices not being feasible, because the people 
will not attend in sufficient numbers, the same result must 
be sought in other ways. 

Practices for congregational singing are frequently 
quite well attended for a meeting or two, then they fail 
rapidly. The reasons are not far to seek. For a meeting 
or two they are a novelty, but they soon lose their zest. 
The people cannot spare an evening a week; there are too 
many other claims on their time. If they are held 
monthly, they have no continuous momentum, they are 
forgotten. 

b. Substitutes for Congregational Rehearsals. An- 
nounce only an occasional practice and prepare for it as a 
special occasion. There may be a short address or lecture 
by some outsider of large reputation, or the singing of 
some prominent vocalist, or of some quartet, announced 
as part of the program. There may be connected with 
it a short concert, or a church supper or social occa- 
sion, or, for that matter, arrange for a twenty-five min- 
ute “sing-song” at an occasional church supper, or 
social. If introduced spontaneously and spiritedly, and 
not made a pedagogical exercise, the people will take to 
it cordially. 


136 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


It would be decidedly unwise to turn a regular service 
of worship into a hymn tune rehearsal. It would not 
fail to dissipate the attitude of worship. Yet even here, 
by methods that would at the same time create devoutness, 
the best sort of practice can be secured, by providing 
features of intense interest that would impress the tune 
upon the minds of the congregation. To repeat a stanza 
first by the choir, or by a soloist, then by the congregation 
would provide the needed iteration to impress the tune. 
The congregation should not be made conscious of the 
tune, only of the sentiment of the hymn; none the less it 
will improve in the singing much more than in twice the 
time in mechanical rehearsal. 

Instead of a formal duplicate of the morning service 
with its regular discourse, let the evening service be de- 
voted to a song service of somewhat informal character. 
The help of the choir will be an important factor. It can 
be used to vary the singing as well as to impress upon the 
people the correct way of singing the tunes. The organist 
will be playing in his dignified church manner and the 
hymns will be sung just as in regular church service. The 
informality of the service will permit singing the verses 
over and over again. The hymn itself as well as the tune 
will be studied and learned in all its delicate shades of 
meaning and sentiment. The singing will be intelligent 
and emotional, and be vital with religious fervour. 

c. The Church Stinging Class. 'Thereis a substitute for 
the congregational rehearsal that may be made very useful 
indeed,—the church singing class. While singing by note 
is taught ever more efficiently in our public schools, the 
singing class can be made up of the better voices among 
the older children and young people, making a point of 
singing sacred as well as secular selections of a grade 
higher than the music sung in the public schools, Indeed 


BUILDING CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 1387 


it could be used as a junior choir and occasionally supply 
numbers for the regular service. It would make a great 
choir within the general congregation.” 


7. THE IMPORTANCE OF HYMNALS 


a. The Supply of Hymnals. No small item in congre- 
gational singing is an ample supply of hymnals,—not 
simply hymn books,—containing both hymns and tunes. 
The singing of the Scottish churches was nearly wrecked 
in the seventeenth century because their psalters did not 
supply the tunes as they had done earlier in their history. 
When the singing in the New England churches had de- 
clined to a pitiable degree in the early part of the eigh- 
teenth century, so that only five tunes were sung in the 
churches, it was restored when the later psalters were sup- 
plied with the needed tunes. The supply of hymnals 
should be ample, a copy for every expected attendant upon 
the service, for few people enjoy sharing the book with 
another person. 

b. The Character of the Hymnals. What the character 
of that hymnal should be depends on the service and even 
more on the people who are to sing. An evening service 
with a popular audience of young people may be best 
served by a gospel song book containing a good selection 
of standard hymns and tunes. A more sedate congrega- 
tion at a solemn morning service of worship will be 
helped most by a hymnal of a severer order with syl- 
labic tunes. 


*“ A choir, using the word in this larger sense, (i. e., the trained 
portion of the congregation) is the very life of congregational 
singing, and the life of the choir is the elementary music class. 
This is as important as fresh fuel to a steam engine, and no 
church should be without one.”—John S. Curwen, “Studies in 
Worship Music.” Second Series. 


138 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


here should be a tablet, or even two, announcing the 
hymns to be sung. The minister inadvertently announced 
the hymn in a low tone of voice, or the worshipper’s atten- 
tion was wandering when the number was mentioned. 
The tablet with the numbers meets the difficulty. 


8. SINGING WITHOUT THE HYMNALS 


But why not sing without a hymnal? Why not depend 
on the memories of the people for at least the more widely 
used hymns like “ Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” “ Rock of 
Ages, Cleft for Me,” “ Nearer, My God, to Thee,” ‘ My 
Faith Looks Up to Thee,” and a score of others? 

a. A Large Latent Repertoire. While a single singer 
might not be able to sing many hymns through, it is aston- 
ishing how many hymns a congregation, as a composite, 
remembers well enough to sing. They “cannot sing the 
old songs,” they “ do not know the words,” is true only of 
individual singers; when others are singing, the gaps of 
memory of the individual are bridged by the memories 
of others. ‘The stimulus and impetus of the singing brings 
up the lines one by one, although perhaps not thought of 
for years. 

b. Value of Singing from Memory. Singing “ by 
heart’ comes from the heart. It has a spontaneity and a 
genuineness no reading of the lines from the hymnal can 
evoke. ‘The singer can read the lines very mechanically, 
with little sense of their deeper meaning and with little 
appropriation of its sentiment to himself; but what he 
sings out of his memory, out of himself, has a spiritual 
vitality made up of associations and experiences of the 
past. 

After singing them over several times, depending on 
the memory, the memory of the hymns will be so re- 
freshed that they will be fixed for all time. 


BUILDING CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 139 


c. How to Use This Method. Most appropriate in a 
free order of service, although not shut out from stated 
worship, it can be genially introduced by the preacher 
closing his hymnal, reciting from memory the first verse 
of the selected hymn and asking both choir and congrega- 
tion to lay aside their hymnals and sing with him. There 
will likely be enough persons in the congregation to carry 
it through. If the first effort is rather indifferently suc- 
cessful, comment on the sentiments expressed in the verse 
and ask them to sing it again, not as a memory exercise, 
but in order to bring out the meaning. The other verses 
may be treated in the same way. Soon after, in a subse- 
quent meeting, the hymn should be again sung in the same 
way, but with probably less prompting. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. If praise is a duty, what other duty is involved? 

2. Why should the minister be interested in congregational 
singing ? 

3. How shall the people be interested in it? 

4. Why do average people fail to sing? 

5. How create a sense of obligation to sing? 

6. How does deeper spirituality affect congregational singing? 

7. What are some of the difficulties in building up congrega- 
tional singing? 

8. Who are the people first to be interested in it? 

9. How can choir director and organist help? 

0. How can the choir be of use in building up congregational 
singing? 

11. How can other departments of the church help? 

12. What help can Christian homes afford? 

13. In what ways can the congregation be induced to rehearse? 

14. How can public services be used to improve the people’s 
singing ? 

15. Why is the hymnal in use important? 

16. What are the advantages of singing from memory? 


Xx 


A STUDY IN CHURCH HYMNALS 


Class Room Suggestions: Appoint a student to learn the number 
of hymns in a dozen of the most prominent hymnals, another to 
report the number of alternative tunes in them, still another of 
musical experience to check up the number of tunes in them that 
are unknown to the average church-goer. If practicable, have 
some discreet man investigate the actual practical experience, and 
its varied extent, of the responsible editors of leading hymnals. 
Attend some gathering of ministers and raise the question of the 
practicability of their hymnals and report results to your classes. 
All these concrete facts will have great value in the study of this 
chapter. 


1. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HYMNAL 


The importance of the church hymnal can hardly be 
unduly stressed. The co-operation of the congregation in 
the worship and the ultimate effects of the church service 
are almost impossible without it. In this day and gener- 
ation, it is impossible to depend on the memory of the 
people for the hymns and tunes which make their united 
effort in their portion of the service possible. 

Whatever value congregational singing may have, there- 
fore, depends on the existence of the hymnal. It enters 
into every part of the active church life as expressed in 
public meetings. It is more indispensable than the organ or 
the choir, important as these are. It makes co-operation 
possible to the aggregate of individual units. It is impor- 
tant, therefore, that there should be careful analysis of the 
features that are essential to its proper functioning. 


2. THE HyMNaL 1s A MEANS To AN END 
a. Its Function to Help the Congregation. A hymnal 
140 


A STUDY IN CHURCH HYMNALS 141 


has no excuse for being except as a practical help in actual 
church service. It is furnished to the congregation in 
order that they may unite in the singing. The choir does 
not need it for its special contribution to the service; its 
music is otherwise provided for. ‘The whole purpose of a 
hymnal, combining the hymns and their tunes,! is to assist 
the congregation in their share of the musical service. 

For many of the members of the congregation a mere 
hymn book would be sufficient, for they know the familiar 
tunes and need no notes. But in few congregations are 
there wanting those who do read notes, and perhaps enjoy 
singing some part other than the melody. These people 
are usually the best singers in the congregation, whose 
cordial co-operation is very desirable, if not essential, 

The hymnal is a practical tool intended to secure a defi- 
nite, practical result: the completest possible co-operation 
of the members of the congregation in the service of song, 
That is the primary function of the hymnal. 

But the hymnal includes the hymn book and has a wider 
purpose than the co-operation of the singers: the highest 
efficiency of the song service in its social and religious 
results. But even so it is still a tool to be used for secur- 
ing these larger results. 

The construction of any tool is in every detail condi- 
tioned by the purpose for which it is used. Whether it is 
to be made from wood, or iron, or steel, depends on the 
effect it is to produce, as do all the details of its construc- 
tion. In like manner, the kind of hymns to be used, the 
character of the tunes and their detailed combinations will 
be determined by the effects that are sought. 


*The writer is aware that the dictionaries do not authorise the 
distinction here made between “hymn book” and “ hymnal,” but 
the distinction is too valuable in clearly expressing one’s thought 
to forego its advantage for that reason. 


142 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


Moreover, the character of the tool will be modified by 
the material on which it is to work. A steam shovel and 
an ordinary spade are differentiated by the magnitude of 
the task they are to accomplish, working on the same fun- 
damental principle and made of practically the same ma- 
terial. In very much the same way, a hymnal must be 
adapted to the circumstances under which it is to be used 
and to the character of the people who are to use it and 
who are to be affected by it. 

b. The Hymnal is Not a Mere Anthology. From the 
foregoing consideration it follows that the hymnal is not 
a mere anthology, a collection of hymns on a basis of mere 
literary merit. Literary values count, of course, but do 
not cast the decisive vote. It is not enough to say that a 
hymn has a high literary quality, that it is poetical in its 
imagery, lyrical in its spirit, polished and accurate in its 
verbiage, musical and smooth in its varied rhythm, fresh 
and impressive in its thought, and profoundly devout in its 
devotional character; it may be all these and yet by these 
very excellencies be sorely handicapped in actual use 
among average people, because they lie outside the horizon 
of the experience of the singers. The hymns that are born 
of mountain-top experiences breathe too thin an atmos- 
phere and leave the dwellers in the plain below gasping 
and suffering for lack of their wonted air. 

c. Practical Criteria in Selection of Hymns. The cri- 
terion to be applied in the selection of hymns for a 
hymnal, therefore, should be practical availability for the 
average congregation, which does not entirely shut out 
provision for the small minority whose literary tastes and 
profound spiritual experiences sweep wider horizons. 
On the other hand, it may permit the use of hymns 
whose lack of high quality is atoned for by their prac- 
tical value. 


A STUDY IN CHURCH HYMNALS 143 


d. Selection of Impracticable Tunes, ‘There is even 
greater danger of the lack of proper adaptation of the 
hymnal to the purposes of the song service in the selection 
and mating of hymn tunes. Some hymnal editors are so 
fanatical in their devotion to what they suppose to be high 
musical standards, and to the compositions of hymn tune 
composers of high repute, or so susceptible to the influence 
of antique tradition, that they are unable to discriminate, 
and lose sight entirely of the practical usefulness of the 
individual tunes. ‘To use a tune simply because it was 
written by Dykes, or Monk, or Barnby, is to forget that 
these composers by no means “ struck twelve” with every 
tune; that, like other composers, they frequently had an 
impulse to write without being able to summon the essen- 
tial inspiration.? 

Again the verdict regarding a given hymn tune is too 
often based on its effect when played on an organ instead 
of being tried out with a group of average singers. Edi- 
tors forget that hymn tunes are to be sung, not played 
upon an organ.? The voice finds difficulties and unspon- 





*“A good tune is most difficult to write because within very 
circumscribed limits something definite and characteristic must be 
expressed. While comparatively simple material must be used, it 
should neither be commonplace nor reminiscent. The parts must 
be in convenient range of the different voices. The harmonic 
frame must not be too elaborate for the melodic picture. It must 
be concise, logical, artistic, and well-balanced. It must have senti- 
ment without sentimentality, dignity without angularity. It is not 
surprising, then, that one of the foremost of American composers 
when invited to contribute to the hymnal of a leading denomina- 
tion declined with thanks, excusing himself on the grounds that 
he would rather write a sonata than a hymn tune! ”—P, C, Lutkin 
in “ Music in the Church.” 

*The writer, early in his editorial career, discovered that he 
could not always depend for his final judgment of a composition 
on his reading of it, or even on his playing it over. He organised 


144 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


taneous combinations of tones that the pliant fingers of 
the player do not discover. 

Some of the older German, and of the modern English 
and American tunes, make admirable little organ volun- 
taries, but have little distinctiveness of tune. They present 
fine harmonic effects and interesting instrumental develop- 
ments, but they do not sing well, their ostensible tunes not 
being rememberable. 

Some tunes, though singable in themselves, are spoiled 
by the intricate harmony that underlies them. The alto, 
tenor, and bass parts are so difficult and angular that the 
singers cannot sing them. Accustomed to sing these parts, 
they are reluctant to sing the tune as a unison, Moreover 
those who sing the tune find themselves without a normal 
harmonic basis and are confused and disturbed, and hence 
discouraged in singing. 

There is another consideration that seems entirely over- 
looked by many hymnal compilers ; that hymn tunes, to be 
really useful, must be in the idiom natural to the singers, 
in other words, must fall spontaneously from their lips. 

A professor of music recently said, “It is perfectly 
clear that the nearer our approach to the stately chorales 
of the German churches, the greater is the possibility of 
such utterance and volume of sound in the singing as are 
vital to its effectiveness.” He was a professional musician 
whose whole horizon was bounded by musical “ effective- 
ness.” He had no conception of the final religious pur- 
pose. He overlooked the fact that the practical value of a 
tune is not determined finally by its intrinsic value, nor 
even by its practical value in another country or in another 


a quartet to try out every composition to be issued and, more fre- 
quently than his pride enjoyed, found his previous judgment 
at fault. 


A STUDY IN CHURCH HYMNALS 145 


age, but by its efficiency in the particular congregations 
where it is to be used. 

“Ein Feste Burg,” by Martin Luther, is intrinsically a 
strong, expressive melody, nobly harmonised. It was the 
Battle Hymn of the Reformation and of the political and 
national struggles that followed it. It still holds its place 
in the affections, admiration, and religious consciousness 
of German Protestantism. To hear it sung by a great 
body of German soldiers, as the writer did in the 
Garnisons-Kirche at Bonn, is to be lifted into the seventh 
heaven of noble ecstasy, to get a new grasp upon the 
majestic power of an invincible God. But when an 
American congregation feebly pipes the noble melody 
three or four times as fast as the German people habit- 
ually sing it, its locks of power and dignity are shorn and 
it becomes a blinded Samson feebly grinding corn. Yet 
undiscriminating musicians and preachers try to force 
their people to sing this thoroughly alien tune, simply 
because it is good music intrinsically ; then they wonder 
why the effort is a failure. The same statement is less 
true of “ Nun danket alle Gott,” “ Now thank we all our 
God,” another great German chorale. 

Nicolai’s “ Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” “ Sleep- 
ers, Wake,” called “ the King of German Chorales,” as it 
it found in the German chorale books, not as Men- 
delssohn arranged it for his oratorio, is really superior to 
either in its majesty and pomp, having an elevation and 
dignity combined with a richness and variety of melodic 
invention and harmonic strength that vainly seek their 
equal elsewhere. It is sung with transcendent effective- 
ness by large German congregations, but an American 
audience would be crushed by its very greatness. 

It is a significant fact that the German hymn tunes that 
have been really adopted into our American psalmody are 


146 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


none of them chorales, but easy folk-songs, spiritual and 
secular, which are melodious and unpretentious in har- 
mony. “ Lischer,” ‘‘ Messiah,” “ Rosefield,” “‘ Azmon,” 
“ St, Hilda,” “ Hendon,” “ Dennis,” “ Goshen,’ “ Halle,” 
“Seymour,” “ Nuremburg,” “Hursley,” “ Wilmot,” 
“ Arator,” “ Rhine,” are all cases in point. These simpler 
German tunes have had a great influence upon American 
psalmody, as Lowell Mason, Hastings, and others made 
them their models rather than the English and Scotch 
tunes that had previously been largely in use. 


3. Tur HyMNAL A PROBLEM OF PRACTICABILITY 


a. It Affects Practical Results. ‘The hymnal is a prac- 
tical problem that calls for solution from the compilers of 
hymnals. They must solve it, for it cannot be left to the 
minister and his musical helpers. Once the book is made, 
it is a rigid, unpliable fact that cannot be readjusted in 
actual use in the congregation where it is adopted. If 
hymns and tunes are to be readapted, because of the im- 
practicability of the work of the compiler, there is no 
reason for having a hymnal. The hymnal compiler, there- 
fore, has the weal or woe of the musical service in his 
hands. He can spoil the congregational song service of 
thousands of churches and defeat the whole purpose of 
millions of services by false ideals and mistaken selections. 

b. Practicability Too Often Ignored. Impracticable 
hymnals are by no means rare—indeed, there are few that 
have been prepared with a clear-eyed view to practical 
efficiency. ‘The conception of a hymnal as merely a col- 
lection of hymns of high literary excellence, and of tunes 
approved by musical experts, as well as by tradition, still 
rules hymnal editors. It is their pride, and that of the 
denominations they represent, to have a hymnal that ex- 
presses their ideals of culture and scholarship. There is 


A STUDY IN CHURCH HYMNALS 147 


no organised effort to learn the actual needs of the 
churches, by questionnaires, and otherwise. ‘The editorial 
taste, with the co-operation of some conspicuous concert 
organist who is a great man in his own field, but who 
knows little of the needs and limitations of the average 
congregation, determines the selection. ‘Tunes are chosen, 
not because they are singable, but because they are har- 
monised in a strong, technically interesting style, or even 
because they appear in other hymnals of like class. Ef- 
ficiency, practicability, spiritual results, if they are can- 
vassed at all, are subordinated to the ostensible high 
standards of literary and musical excellence. 

c. Experts Are Good Advisors. A hymnal by an 
expert hymnologist and an equally expert musician is not 
necessarily a good one for actual use. In both cases, 
expertness depends upon a microscopic study of details, a 
knowledge of obscure facts and considerations, and a taste 
that is nice in its discrimination. ‘The best hymnal,—that 
is, the one which serves the purpose of a hymnal best,—is 
made by a practical man who knows all the varied needs 
of the churches, assisted by hymnological and musical 
experts. Only in this way can the proper subordination 
of literary and musical art to the religious purpose be 
secured. 


4. Tue Mecuanicar, Aspects of HyMNALS 


The lack of consideration of practical efficiency is note- 
worthy in some merely mechanical aspects of our hymnals. 

a, Place of Indexes. For many years the indexes were 
placed between the hymns and the responsive readings, 
which compelled leafing over in order to find them. ‘Then 
some sensible editor placed the index of first lines at the 
front, because it was used hundreds of times where the 
other indexes were used once. But it hurt the sense of 


L— 


148 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


logic and symmetry of later hymnal editors and they 
brought the rest of the indexes forward as well. While 
that is better than the old arrangement, one must still 
waste too much time finding the index that is most 
wanted. If put in front, the Index of First Lines should 
be put first; if at the back, it should come last. 

b. Separation of Text and Music. The time was when 
the congregation had the hymn book and the organist and 
choir had tune books from which they selected the tunes 
to be used. When the hymn book was transformed into a 
hymnal, the idea was that the tune was supplied for the 
accommodation of the organist and choir, and that the 
congregation only in rare instances had any interest in 
the notes. Hence the music was printed at the top of the 
page, or even on the opposite page, sometimes with no 
text whatever. In this way the tradition was established 
and the awkward, troublesome separation has been handed 
down for three generations as a sacrosanct typography 
which no self-respecting editor may violate. In all other 
music the text is placed within the music in order to 
facilitate the union of, the two: why make an exception 
of the hymnal? 

c. Use of Open Faced Notes. One of the most exas- 
perating foibles of some hymnal editors is their slavish 
copying of an English tradition to print hymn tunes in 
whole and half notes. It is exasperating because the fine 
stem that distinguishes the half note from the whole is 
often so faint as to become confusing to the eye in the 
dim religious light of many of our churches. There can 
be no such difficulty in distinguishing between the half 
note and the solid black quarter. 

d. Useless Double Bars. In many of the more ecclesi- 
astical hymnals there is a double bar at the end of each 
line. It sometimes misleads organists into making a pause 


A STUDY IN CHURCH HYMNALS 149 


with unfortunate effects upon the speed and the mo- 
mentum of the tune. These double bars are a tradition, 
perhaps due to the lining out of the hymns, perhaps an 
adoption from the German chorale-books, where the ultra 
absurd fashion of playing interludes between the lines had 
to be provided for. In any case, the need of the double 
bar has passed away and it should no longer be allowed 
to mess up the page. 

e. Impracticable Size. The conception of a hymnal as 
a hymnic anthology in which all hymns of high intrinsic 
merit shall appear has led to impracticable and cumber- 
some hymnals with a thousand and more hymns. It is 
another manifestation of the lack of practical efficiency in 
the making of hymnals. Why not cull out the many 
didactic, abstract hymns, reduce the number provided for 
unusual and ceremonial occasions, which are so rarely 
used, simplify the organisation of the subjects of the 
hymns, and produce a smaller, less cumbersome hymnal? 
Half a century ago Prof. B. B. Edwards, of Andover, 
made the same plea from the literary standpoint: “ Two 
or three hundred of the most exquisite songs of Zion . . . 
would include all the psalms and hymns which are of 
sterling value for the sanctuary.” 

We may sympathise with that plea from the practical 
side,—but who shall select the two or three hundred? A 
hymnal containing over eleven hundred hymns was sub- 
mitted to fifteen competent clerical critics for suggestions 
as to the exclusion of unnecessary hymns—less than one 
hundred hymns were retained by unanimous vote. ‘Ten 
American clergymen were asked to indicate what six hun- 
dred hymns ought to be dropped out of a collection of 
nearly thirteen hundred—only fifty-six were unanimously 
rejected. 

We have reached, in many of our recent hymnals, a 


150 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


very practical compromise between the “ two or three hun- 
dred” of Dr. Edwards, and the twelve hundred justified 
by Dr. Austin Phelps. The ‘Carmina Sanctorum ” and 
the Methodist Hymnal have less than seven hundred and 
fifty hymns, and “The Church Hymnal” of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal Church less than seven hundred. 

But while the number of hymns is only half what it 
was, the fashion of furnishing alternative tunes for nearly 
every hymn has kept our hymn books quite as cumber- 
some as before. To reproduce a single hymn three or 
four times, in order to introduce as many different tunes, 
pads our hymn books monstrously. Some of the hymns 
thus honoured but ill deserve such high distinction ; others 
are appropriate so rarely that it hardly seems worth while 
to burden the worshipper by supplying so many alterna- 
tive tunes. “ This, too, will pass,” and we shall presently 
have hymnals containing about five hundred hymns, or 
even less, with only additional alternative tunes in the rare 
cases where they are actually necessary. 


5. LARGE DENOMINATIONS NEED Mort THAN ONE 
HyMNATI, 


One reason for the inefficiency of so many of our 
hymnals is that they are assumed to cover all the needs 
of all the congregations of a given denomination. This 
assumption is based not on practical tests but on a theoret- 
ical desire for unity of church activity. There are few 
denominations whose local churches do not differ widely 
in musical resources, general culture, social life, and in the 
character of the community in which they operate. Yet a 
single hymnal is supposed to cover the needs of these 
differing congregations. The smaller denominations are 
usually more homogeneous in social, intellectual, and 
musical culture; but the larger denominations vary very 


A STUDY IN CHURCH HYMNALS 151 


greatly in their local conditions, and for these a single 
hymnal must prove inadequate. ‘That the less resourceful 
congregations substitute gospel song books for the church 
hymnal in all services is unfortunate. The range of se- 
lection of hymns of worship for the regular service is 
exceedingly limited. Many gospel songs are excellent in 
their place, but they rarely have a place in a dignified, 
worshipful service. 

Instead of but one hymnal of a high class type, every 
denomination of two hundred and more thousands of 
members should have two at least: one for its larger and 
more cultured societies and one of a more popular type in 
which the people’s music shall be well represented. It 
may add a third of even more popular character for its 
Sunday-schools, Young People’s Societies, and gospel 
services. Only in this way can complete adaptation to all 
the needs of the several denominations be secured. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. Why is the hymnal important? 

. What is the function of a hymnal? _ 

. In what ways is a hymnal to be compared to a tool? 

. Is a hymnal simply a collection of good hymns? 

What practical considerations obtain in selecting hymns? 

. What false criteria are sometimes applied in the selection of 
tunes ? 

. What tunes are impracticable? 

. State the problem presented by the hymnal. 

. Practicability being essential to a hymnal, what is the value 
of experts? 

10. Where should indexes be placed? 

11. Why should hymns be placed within the music? 

12. Why should open faced notes not be used? 

13. In what two ways do hymnals become excessive in size? 

14. How many alternative tunes should be used? 

15. How many hymnals should a denomination issue? 


AnhWNE 


oon 


XI 
THE TESTS OF A GOOD HYMN TUNE 


Class Room Suggestions: This is an important chapter, but it 
will be easily recited. At least half the hour should be spent in 
laboratory work, trying out new tunes in the hymnal at hand and 
applying the suggested criteria. If there is no good player in the 
class, arrange to have one come in. Perhaps a double quartet can 
be engaged to assist in the tests. 

Preparatory to the work of the following chapter ask the mem- 
bers of the class to study the hymnal and report the hymns they 
find which could not be effectively sung by the congregations of 
which they have knowledge, because of the unknown or in- 
effective tunes. 


It is not possible to formulate final criteria by which 
one shall infallibly measure the value of any given tune. 
Tunes differ in their attractiveness, so that, while lacking 
apparently most of the theoretical essentials of a good 
congregational tune, by its mere individual appeal a tune 
may still prove successful in actual use. Then tunes vary 
in the degree in which they possess the required essentials 
of a good melody for the use of a congregation. 


1. Wuat Is A TUNE? 


Melody is the general term, covering a designed succes- 
sion of tones of any kind. Tune is a melody of pro- 
nounced individuality and clearly defined form and 
cadences. ‘The terms are often loosely used as syno- 
nyms. A hymn tune is a tune fitted to a special form 
of stanza, expressing in a general way the sentiment of 
the hymn and also adapted to the use of an assembly 
of people. 


152 


THE TESTS OF A GOOD HYMN TUNE | 153 


2. BEWARE OF Harp AND FAst FoRMULAS 

a. A Limited Scope of Hymn Tunes. Ina recent book 
discussing hymn tunes the following statement was made: 
“The fundamental form of the best tune embraces the 
following features: common time, one syllable to each 
note, simple melody and radical chords.” Let the censor 
apply that rule to our best hymnals and when he is done 
“blacking out” those failing to meet these tests, what 
would he have left? Looking over the first fifty tunes of 
the latest edition of the Presbyterian Hymnal, a part of 
the most stately portion of the book, being purely wor- 
shipful, we find nineteen tunes that are in other than com- 
mon time, seventeen have slurred notes—4. e., more than 
one note to a syllable-—and seventeen have several notes 
of melody to the same bass notes. As some of these 
tunes trespass against two or even all the items of the pro- 
posed rule, twenty duplicates must be counted out, leaving 
seventeen, a fraction more than one-third of the fifty, that 
will meet the conditions, and even some of these have oc- 
casional slurred notes. The tunes to be rejected would 
include “ Aurelia,” ‘“ Evan,” “ Evening Praise,” “ Ger- 
many,” “ Holley,” ‘“ Hursley,” “ Seymour,” “ Warwick,” 
and even “ Tallis’ Evening Hymn,” some of our most 
useful congregational melodies. The seventeen retained 
include some most excellent tunes, but the only one of 
commanding importance among them is “ Eventide.” 
They have a limited range of expression, being dignified 
and massive, but unfitted to express all the vast gamut of 
religious emotion. 

b. Objections to Triple Time and Certasn Combinations 
of Notes. The suggestion that triple time should not be 
used in church music is often made. One German- 
American writer even deprecates organ music in this time 
as having sensuous suggestions. There is quite as much 


154 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


propriety in the idea of the old monks of the eleventh 
century that triple time is “ perfect time ” because it recog- 
nises the doctrine of the Trinity! Yet another critic ob- 
jects to it because it is too slow! On the other hand, 
William Mason, a writer on congregational singing in the 
early nineteenth century, inveighs against the drawling 
singing then in vogue in the churches, and as a cure asks 
“that the first note be as short again as the second, the 
third as the fourth, and so on to the end of each line,”— 
t. €., compound triple time, six-quarters or six-eighths— 
“prolonging the time of the whole strain to about twice 
that of solemn recitation. This, while it added to intelli- 
gibility, would take from psalmody its tedious drawl and 
certainly leave it sufficient gravity.” 

Another American writer, afflicted with the “gush of 
amateurism,” objects to “quick repeated successions of 
accented and unaccented notes, and dotted notes with 
rhythmical pulsations.” ‘These, he says, are “ opposed to 
the very nature of a religious subject. Nothing sacred 
should be written in three-four, three-eight or six-eight 
time.” 

What a rabbinical tithing of anise and cummin, what a 
forgetting of the weightier matters of the law all this 
represents. This narrow, scholastic, mechanical attitude, 
moreover, is taken with infinite self-complacency as ex- 
clusive and superior. Let us freshen the atmosphere by 
quoting from Luther a passage regarding hymns whose 
broad catholicity is as admirable as it is sensible: “I can- 
not praise those who banish all the Latin hymns from the 
church, On the other hand, it is not less wrong to sing 
only Latin hymns for the congregation.” <A later Ger- 
man, Thibaut, whose little book on “ Purity in Music” 
is a Classic, makes this plea for breadth of sympathy: 
“We deny ourselves the highest enjoyment in music if 


THE TESTS OF A GOOD HYMN TUNE 155 


we aim at annihilating every composer and every style 
but one.” 

c. Objection to Tunes of Secular Origin. A good deal 
of stress has been laid on the origin of music to be used in 
the church, the exclusion of everything having a secular 
origin being insisted upon. It is true, as we have seen in 
our study of the “ Psychology of Music,” 1 that the human 
mind is exceedingly quick to give music a definite meaning 
by connecting with it in the memory ideas of things associ- 
ated with it in its former use. This tendency to associ- 
ation of ideas is very strong, and, despite the inherent 
non-religiousness of all music, must be reckoned with. It 
is not the origin of the music that counts, if it is adapted 
for use in church work; it is the present immediate sug- 
gestion it brings that is to be considered. Hence Richard 
Storrs Willis was both right and wrong in rebuking 
Mason, Webb, Emerson and other contemporary hymn 
tune book makers for their habit of taking music from the 
most nondescript foreign sources: “ Our psalm and hymn 
tunes are constructed in the form of German popular part 
songs. German convivial songs, soldiers’ songs, students’ 
songs, are actually found bodily transferred to our books 
of church psalmody and are sung in our churches as 
sacred music.” Had these German associations been 
known to the American churches, the objection would 
have been a valid one. Actually, the music had no associ- 
ation whatever to the churches in this country, and, in so 
far as they were practically adapted to religious uses, 
religious associations immediately clustered about them. 
It is interesting to note that while only one of Willis’ 
tunes, “ Carol,” a Christmas melody, survives, a number 
of these German secular tunes still find a place in our best 


*In “Church Music.” 


156 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


hymnals. In this country the religious association has 
been firmly established and hence their usefulness 1s not 
disturbed by their origin. 

The practice of using secular music in church service 
is undoubtedly as old as the Christian church. The Gen- 
tile churches used the more dignified modes of the 
Greeks. For their discant, (the melody by which the 
main tune was decorated,) the early monks used popular 
melodies (not even stopping to change the sometimes 
ribald texts) and the contrapuntists of a later age used 
an occasional one for their cantus fermus, or main theme. 
The early Lutheran chorales were purposely based on cur- 
rent secular melodies in order that the people might sing 
the newly introduced hymns. In the sixteenth century 
there was a favourite song, “ Innsbruck, ich muss dich 
lassen,” (“ Innsbruck, I now must leave thee’’), which 
became “O Welt, ich muss dich lassen” (‘“O World, I 
now must leave thee’), sung to its current tune, which, 
as “ Innsbruck,” is found in our best English and Ameri- 
can hymnals, such as “ Hymns, Ancient and Modern,” 
and “ In Excelsis.” 

In conclusion, it must be remembered that rude, unlet- 
tered people have less inclination to a definite association 
of ideas and also less sensitiveness to incongruities of im- 
pression. This explains why the Salvation Army can take 
“The devil’s tunes ” without harm, while the editor of a 
high class hymnal must watch with exceeding care the 
associations connected with the tunes he uses. The use of 
secular melodies in church service has the sanction of age- 
long custom, but it calls for discretion and tact in the 
selection and adaptation. 

The sensible, practical minister will brush aside all 
these artificial restrictions born of subjective theorising, 
using “ Dennis” and “ Stockwell,” and “ Hursley,” de- 


THE TESTS OF A GOOD HYMN TUNE 157 


spite their triple time, and “ Rhine” and “ Jewett ” and 
“Seymour,” despite their convivial and operatic origin. 
He will consider intrinsic musical value and _ practical 
availability in his own work, utterly indifferent to the 
theorists in their studies who amuse themselves with 
microscopic and impracticable niceties. 


3. THE CRITERIA OF A Goop Hymn TunE 


What are the criteria by which we may judge whether 
a tune is a good one or not? 

a. It Must Be Tuneful. In the first place, a tune must 
be tuneful, é. ¢., it must have a clear design and melodic 
individuality. That seems so self-evident that a statement 
of it strikes one as superfluous. But when one looks over 
some of the later English tunes and sees how this essential 
characteristic of a hymn tune is ignored, there is evi- 
dently a call for emphasising it. Here is the melody of 
“ Bevan” by Sir John Goss. 





Apart from the harmonies, which are technically very 
well done, and interesting, the most of the tune looks like 
a vocal exercise in scales, and the rest is so commonplace, 
and so threadbare with constant use, that even American 
Sunday-school music writers no longer have the courage 


158 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


to reproduce it! There is nothing pleasing, nor character- 
istic, nor expressive of any feeling in the melody, although 
it must be confessed the varied harmonies give a factitious 
interest. ‘That may redeem it as a musical composition, 
but not as a hymn tune. ‘The very first test of a tune is 
the charm, the marked character, and the expressiveness 
that enable it to stand alone. If that fails, nothing else 
can save it. 

b. It Must. Be Vocal. A tune must be vocal in char- 
acter. Not every strong or pleasing melody is fitted for 
the human voice. A good many arrangements of instru- 
mental melodies are to be found in our larger hymnals. 
Some of them are fairly successful, notably “ Gottschalk ” 
from that famous virtuoso’s piano solo, “ The Last Hope,” 
and “ Jewett” from the “ Prayer” in Weber’s opera, 
“Der Freischuetz.” Not quite so successful are the ar- 
rangements of Mendelssohn’s ‘ Songs Without Words,” 
Book 2, No. 3, known as “ Peace” and “ Aspiration.” 
The melody is very beautiful and expressive, and will 
carry a religious sentiment very felicitously; but, as far 
as it bears use for the voice, it is a solo rather than a 
hymn tune, both because of its severe intervals and its 
affettuoso style. The writer is inclined to deprecate the 
arrangement of the vocal movement from Beethoven’s 
Ninth Symphony, known as “ Ludwig.” In its place, as 
a serene, celestial contrast to the preceding tumultuous 
orchestral movement, this simple melody is supremely 
effective, but as a hymn tune it is rather light. Singing it 
more slowly than in the tempo used in the symphony does 
not meet the difficulty, but does eliminate its joyousness. 

The chief difficulties with such arrangements are, first, 
that they are wrenched from their proper setting, and, 
second, that in the arrangement certain changes become 
necessary, or are arbitrarily made, which rob the original 


THE TESTS OF A GOOD HYMN TUNE 159 


of its chief beauty. It seems unjust to burden the reputa- 
tion of a great composer with the credit for arrangements 
which he would hardly recognise and which in some cases 
he certainly would not care to own. “ Antioch” is cred- 
ited to Handel as having been arranged from “The Mes- 
siah.” ‘The fact is, Lowell Mason took a phrase of three 
or four notes from one of the choruses as the opening of 
the tune and wrote all the rest himself. It is Mason’s, not 
Handel’s tune.? 

c. It Must Make Progress. Furthermore, a tune must 
make progress as it proceeds. Its parts must be so articu- 
lated that singers can feel that progress from line to line. 
“ St. Veronica ” is a clear case of a violation of this rule: 





?“We have already become acquainted with the objections 
against the so usual admission of arranged music. There are, 
however, musicians who maintain that, as our modern great com- 
posers have written comparatively little or nothing for the church, 
it must be a good plan to pick out here and there from their excel- 
lent secular compositions a beautiful idea, and, by some curtailing, 
or adding, or throwing out a few bars in the middle, or by giving 
it an entirely different harmony, or by altering its key, time 
movement, etc., to make a sacred tune of it. But, however inex- 
pressibly beautiful is the andante in Beethoven’s Sonata in A Flat 
major (op. 26),—or the theme of the lJarghetto in his symphony in 
D major,—or that of the andante in his symphony in C minor,— 
torn out of its place and connection, it loses its chief beauty, with- 
out becoming appropriate for its new purpose.”’—“ Reflections on 
Church Music,” Carl Engel. 


160 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


Here the first three phrases all end on G and the chord 
of E. Even the fourth practically ends the same way, as 
it also closes on the chord of E. 

d. It must be harmonised in a normal way, 1. e., its fun- 
damental chords shall follow a natural progression. Un- 
usual chords that leave the tonality in doubt will confuse 
the congregation and render their sense of the intervals 
of the tune uncertain. Unexpected progressions, how- 
ever interesting in themselves, will undermine confidence 
and spontaneity. The important thing is that the con- 
gregation’s sense of tonality shall be stimulated, not 
submerged. 

e. It Must Have the Native Accent of the Singers. Tf 
a tune is to be really effective it must bear the accent, 
have the style of musical thought natural and spontaneous 
to those who are to sing it. A tune that drops its H’s, 
1. é., that is ultra-English, will never be widely useful in 
America. However spontaneous it may be with an 
English congregation, it seems forced, unnatural, mean- 
ingless, to an average American assembly. “ St. Fran- 
cis,” by Sullivan, seems to me such a tune. His “ Angel 
Voices ” is a good tune and sings well, but does not appeal 
to American congregations. His “St. Gertrude” (On- 
ward, Christian Soldiers), on the other hand, is most 
aggressive in its Americanism! Most of the German 
chorales are shut out by the same consideration. They 
are national, not universal, in spirit. The American people 
do not think in terms of the distinctly German chorales. 

f. It Must Be Practicable. Moreover, a tune must be 
practicable. (1) Not only must it not have any single 
high notes above or below the range of the average wor- 
shipper, about c to E, (better d to D,) it must not call for 
sustained use of the higher part of that range. A tune 
that remains above B for several successive phrases will 


THE TESTS OF A GOOD HYMN TUNE | i161 


very likely induce flatting. (2) Extreme intervals, such 
as octaves, sevenths, augmented fourths and seconds, and 
even sixths in certain harmonic relations, are difficult for 
a general congregation. The angularity of the opening 
phrases of “ Pietas ” is as evident to the eye as it is diffi- 


cult to sing with effectiveness. ‘he same objection holds 
against the opening strain of Handel’s “I Know That 
My Redeemer Liveth” when arranged as a hymn tune. 
As a solo, of course, the criticism does not apply. 

g. General Acceptability the Best Criterion. It is not 
always possible to account for the vogue and popularity of 
a tune. But whether you can, or cannot, its acceptability 
among a variety of congregations over a fairly long period 
of time is an infallible criterion of a good tune. All the 
quasi-technical criticisms of “Coronation” fall away in 
the face of its persistent hold upon the American people. 
Modern hymnal editors have been trying in vain to dis- 
place it with the British “ Miles Lane.” Why they should 
wish to force upon the American churches the British 
tune, with its growl at the end of the second line and its 
howl at the end of the fourth, can only be explained by 
the Athenian itch for something new. Sir Henry Smart 
actually called it “vulgar.” At one time it was quite 
popular in Scotland, but is now rarely heard there. 

To set up general acceptability as a final criterion may 
not appeal to persons of a consciously artistic outlook, 
alleging that the general public is not capable of passing 
an artistic judgment! But a hymn tune is not primarily 
a work of art; it is a means of securing unity of action in 
rehearsing a hymn and of deepening its emotional impres- 








162 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


sion, and is only incidentally a work of art. In other 
words, it is applied art, and its success must be judged by 
the accomplishment of the purpose for which it was ap- 
plied. The congregation is more likely by far to be a just 
judge of that than the critic with his eye fixed on the 
minor factors in the problem. 


4. MISMATING OF HYMNS AND TUNES 


a. Mismating in Spirit. The best hymn can be spoiled 
by mismating it with an incongruous tune. ‘To sing Lyte’s 
“ Abide with Me” to Hopkins’ “ Ellers ” (also known as 
“ Benediction”) seems to the writer to spoil both. To 
sing “‘ Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep ” to an ever-changing, 
florid tune like “ St. John’s Highlands” is to violate the 
quiet spirit of the text. The self-imposed task of provid- 
ing an alternative tune leads to a good many such mismat- 
ings in our recent hymnals, and ministers and choir 
directors need to be put on their guard. 

b. Mismating in Accent. That a hymn and a tune are 
marked as having the same meter is no assurance that 
they will fit in accent. The first measure of many hymns 
of otherwise iambic structure is a trochee, throwing the 
accent on the first instead of the second syllable. There 
are tunes which take account of this opening trochee and 
hence they do not fit a hymn of the same meter of regular 
iambic structure. Some tunes are adapted to lines having 
a regularly occurring cesura; but there are many hymns 
of like meter in which the cesura is placed irregularly. 
Such tunes and hymns will not mate. 

Happy is the minister whose hymnal has music fitted 
to the needs of his people. Good tunes that his people 
can sing, and will enjoy singing, are a spiritual force of 
incalculable value. It is his duty to study the tunes as 
well as the hymns in his hymnal and to learn to analyse 


THE TESTS OF A GOOD HYMN TUNE 1638 


their relative values, lest an unfortunately impracticable 
tune—and there are all too many in our hymnals—should 
spoil the desired effect in using the given hymn. A min- 
ister should intimately know, be able to sing spontane- 
ously, not less than one hundred of the best tunes. He 
should know their several values in impressing the people 
and should remember which are preferred by his people, 
as evidenced by their singing of them. 

However, even the crudest, most ill-adapted collection 
of hymns and tunes has enough good material in it, if 
properly exploited and handled, to accomplish more than 
is now realised in the average congregation. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 
. What is a tune? 
. Should rigid formulas be applied to them? 
. Give one of unduly limited scope and state how its application 
would affect our hymnals. 
. What other limitations are proposed? 
. What considerations apply to tunes of secular origin? 
. What governs the offense given by secular associations? 
State five criteria of a good tune. 
. What is the best criterion? 
What mismating of hymns and tunes sometimes occurs? 
. What is the final criterion of a good hymnal? 
. What is the correct attitude of a minister towards his hymnal? 


Ww Dh 


ROO MDNIAMA 


bt et 


XII 
THE SELECTION OF HYMN TUNES 


Class Room Suggestions: Take part of the time in canvassing 
the reports of members of the class regarding unavailability of 
tunes in the hymnal. If the class has taken the request seriously 
the review of their work should be instructive. 


1. MINISTERIAL ATTITUDE To HyMn TUNES 


a. Ministerial Indifference to Hymnals. Many minis- 
ters know their Bible in a vital, concrete way all too 
little, but they know their church hymnals very much 
less. They run through them occasionally to find a set 
of hymns that will suit their sermons and so pick up a 
little miscellaneous knowledge, but a careful, organised 
study of the hymnals is rare among them. Yet the 
hymnal and its tunes are important factors in every 
public service. ; 

b. Ministerial Ignorance of Hymn Tunes. ‘This is par- 
ticularly true of the tunes. The libraries of many min- 
isters contain books on the history and illustration of 
hymns which they occasionally consult in a desultory way ; 
but how few of them give even a thought to the practical 
availability of hymn tunes! Yet no matter how fitting 
and fine the hymn may be, if the tune is not known to the 
congregation, the hymn loses its value. In the steady 
upward movement of a service an indifferent hymn with 
a good tune is more helpful than a much better hymn with 
a poor tune. 

The average minister’s most frequent and _ serious 


164 


THE SELECTION OF HYMN TUNES 165 


blunders are due to his ignorance, or his indifference in 
respect to the tunes to which the hymns he has selected 
shall be sung.? 

He is thinking only of the relation of the hymns to the 
subject of his discourse, not of their effect on the congre- 
gation; so the tune lies below the horizon of his thought. 
In his mistaken conception of unity of idea, instead of 
unity of feeling, in his service, he may select two hymns 
on the same page to the same tune and put his precentor 
or organist into a dilemma. 

c. Hts Faith in His Hymnal is Often Unfortunate. 
The faith of most ministers in the editors of their particu- 
lar church hymnal is greater than their faith in the divine 
inspiration of the Bible. If a certain tune is given to a 
particular hymn, there is no question of fitness raised,— 
it is in the hymnal and therefore it must be right. Yet 
many of our hymnals, even those that are extremely pre- 
tentious, are compiled by amateurs, who have little musi- 
cal training, assisted by musicians who have training of a 
high order, but no practical experience in the varying 
resources of different congregations. 


2. Stupy oF THE Hymn Tunrs 
a. The Minute Investigation of Individual Tunes. 
Such implicit faith would not be possible if the minister 
made a careful study of the actual singability of the tunes 





* The Rev. Charles R. Hodge, in his “ Clergy and Choir,” speak- 
ing for the ministers of the Episcopal communion, asserts that 
they relegate the choice of hymn tunes “to some musical person, 
satisfied if the music moves on smoothly, and is not glaringly out 
of place.” ‘That is, satisfied if the music is not actually offensive! 
The music is not expected to contribute anything to the value of 
the service; it is suffered in the hope that it will not disturb it. 
Unfortunately this clerical attitude is not monopolised by Epis- 
copal rectors. 


166 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


of his hymnal. If he cannot himself play them over, some 
member of his family, some friend, or his organist, can 
assist him. His private copy should contain the record 
of the results, largely eliminating the tunes that in his 
congregation at least are not efficient—not fitted to secure 
the results sought for. 

b. Adaptation of Tunes to Use of Local Congregation. 
It should be stressed that the one point that is decisive in 
the minister’s canvass of the availability of tunes is sing- 
ability in his own congregation. No matter how rich and 
expressive its harmonies, if his people cannot sense the 
tune, or sing it spontaneously, it will neutralise the devo- 
tional and other values of the hymn he is proposing to use. 


3. CLASSES OF HyMn TUNES 


A few hints as to the practical value of some classes of 
hymn tunes may be of use. 

a. American Hymn Tunes. For the average Ameri- 
can congregation the survivors of the great mass of 
hymn tunes, either the heritage from the pre-Mason 
period, or written during the epoch bounded by Lowell 
Mason and Wm. B. Bradbury, may be accepted as en- 
tirely available. They are the product of our own people 
and of our peculiar conditions, and hence are expressive 
of our American individuality of thought and spirit. Add 
to these the arrangements made by Mason, Kingsley, and 
others from foreign sources which have been adopted by 
generations of use and you have a body of practical, use- 
ful, effective tunes, not one of which can be spared. 

While there have been some excellent tunes written by 
Americans since Bradbury’s time, such as Stebbins’ 
“Evening Prayer,” Sherwin’s “Bread of Life” and 
“Evening Praise,” Ward’s “ Materna,” Culter’s “ Cul- 
ter,” Lane’s “ Penitence,” and Walton’s arrangement of 


THE SELECTION OF HYMN TUNES 167 


Hemy’s “St. Catherine,” the small body of American 
tunes of later years have been mere echoes of the modern 
English style and, like most imitations, copy the faults 
and miss the virtues of the model.? 

b. Arrangements of German Melodies. ‘The older ar- 
rangements from German sources made by the fathers of 
American hymnody may be accepted as entirely practi- 
cable and effective. Most of them are in the German 
“ Volkston,” or popular style, instead of being in the 
ecclesiastical style. 

c. German Chorales. The difficulty with selections 
from German churchly sources lies in the antipodal tem- 
peraments of the German and American peoples, or, to 
speak physiologically, their difference of nervous suscep- 
tibility. ‘The older German secular melodies, including 
love and drinking songs, usually have a dignity about 
parallel to our American religious music. German church 
music has a profound seriousness, a phlegmatic weight, a 
ponderous slowness of tempo that is utterly alien to the 
American spirit, is indeed painful to American nerves. 

d. English Hymn Tunes. When we come to examine 
the tunes of British origin, we find them more congenial 
to our American tastes. Our American church life is so 
largely a development of impulses and vital forces that 
originally came from England, that the English hymn 


*In the consideration of tunes for practical use do not allow 
the judgment to be swayed by criticisms of the more useful tunes 
by idealists, whose fundamental premise seems to be that whatever 
is sung spontaneously by the people must be bad. Quite the 
reverse; what the people have sung widely and persistently 
through several generations must be good! And that is true, not 
only practically, but artistically as well. The criteria applied by 
these critics are largely artificial, or based on false assumptions, 
such as that all music used in church must be worshipful, or that 
all appeal to the rhythmic sense is unworthy in hymn tunes, 


168 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


tunes and other church music are more likely to be practi- 
cable in America than the German. 

(1) The Older English Tunes. Many of the hymn 
tunes that have become an integral part of American 
Protestant church music are English and Scotch in origin, 
The very.fathers of American psalmody introduced many 
of these tunes and made them a part of the American 
church life. Duke Street, St. Thomas, Hanover, Rock- 
ingham, Warwick, Silver Street, Evan, Melody,—the list 
of these older English tunes, whose loss would greatly 
impoverish our congregational singing, is too long to 
quote here. ‘They are the survivors of a vast number of 
tunes written through nearly or quite two centuries, 
tested both in Great Britain and America. 

(2) Discrimination is Needed with More Recent Tunes. 
When we reach the more recent school of hymn tune 
writers, discrimination becomes exceedingly important, 
partly because the winnowing of time is not yet done, 
partly because their tunes differ in practical availability. 
The editors of our more ambitious hymnals have con- 
sulted their artistic taste and scholarly pride rather than 
their practical sense, in their undiscriminating use of them. 
Many of them have transferred the majority of the tunes 
from “ Hymns Ancient and Modern,” the popular hymnal 
of the Established Church of England, not because they 
are adapted to American needs, not because they can be 
sung by the average congregation, but because of the high 
standing in England of this very excellent collection of 
hymn tunes for English church use. 

The writer has no quarrel with the modern English 
hymn tune. Many specimens of it are magnificent music. 
But to accept an English tune simply because it is 
English, because it bears the name of some prominent 
English composer, or because it belongs to a style that 


THE SELECTION OF HYMN TUNES 169 


is recognised as churchly and dignified, is to throw aside 
all critical discrimination and to invite defeat in the prac- 
tical work of congregational singing. 

In many a congregation these English tunes are used in 
spite of the fact that congregational singing has become 
a mere form as a result of this theoretical and impracti- 
cable selection. Nor is this result confined to America, 
Some time since, in an address, Dr. Curwen publicly stated 
that the Established Church had largely lost its congrega- 
tional singing. During a visit to this country, Dr. Sam- 
uel Chadwick, of Leeds, later gave the writer a similar 
testimony. 

This later school of English hymn tune writers is dis- 
tinctly High Church. The calendar of saints is nearly 
exhausted in the naming of their tunes. Their composi- 
tions are written with a cathedral or large parish choir in 
mind. Dr. Gauntlett, when it was urged that the hymnal 
(“The Psalmist”) to which he had contributed largely, 
was impracticable, confessed that he had studied the capa- 
bilities of choirs rather than of congregations.* 

In writing of Dykes’ music, Dr. Breed spends unstinted 
praise. “ We may take anything which he has contributed 
to modern collections and set it up as a standard, saying, 
‘This is what a tune ought to be for such a hymn as 
this.’” Sir Henry Smart does not seem to share Dr. 
Breed’s uncritical enthusiasm, but remarks, “I am not 
very fond of Dr. Dykes’ tunes. To my mind they have 


*“The modern tunes of Dykes and Barnby, while more grace- 
ful in outline and more gracious to the ear, are not so well 
adapted for unison singing, as the melodies lack the strength and 
solidity necessary when a considerable number of adult male 
voices are singing the air... . They only obtain their full effect 
when sung by a good choir with well balanced parts.”"—P, C., 
Lutkin in “ Music in the Church.” 


170 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


generally an effeminacy of character which is not ap- 
propriate.” He puts his finger with unerring touch upon 
the weak point in Dykes’ music; it is all nervously de- 
pressing. “ Nicea” is majestic, but quietly, unaggres- 
sively so; it has nothing of the virility and exhilaration 
of “Duke Street,” not to speak of Sullivan’s “St. 
Gertrude.” 

But when these modern English tunes do rise out of the 
banality of harmonic exercises, they seem to the writer 
very admirable. There is hardly need to refer to the ele- 
vation of “ Niczea,” by John R. Dykes, to the tender dig- 
nity of “ Eventide,” by William H. Monk, or to the 
profound feeling of “ St. Margaret,” by Albert L. Peace. 
“Lead, Kindly Light,” by Dykes, is more popular, but it 
is not so good as a congregational tune, because of the 
greatly varying lengths of its notes, which are observed by 
few audiences. “ Vox Dilecti,” by the same composer, is 
really a responsive piece for choir and congregation. 
Very few congregations are able to sing the first half 
of it with any degree of correctness or effectiveness. 
Properly rendered, it is a gem of rare beauty. 

“ St. Gertrude,” Arthur D. Sullivan’s martial setting of 
Baring-Gould’s processional, “Onward, Christian Sol- 
diers,” combines strength, distinction, and practicability 
in an uncommon degree. Joseph Barnby’s “ Merrial,” to 
Baring-Gould’s “ Now the Day is Over,” has a perennial 
charm acknowledged by all; but our average congrega- 
tions can do little with it, as its melody lies largely in the 
lower parts. “ Ellers,” by Edward J. Hopkins, is a tune- 
ful setting of Ellerton’s “ Saviour, Again to Thy Dear 
Name We Raise” that is deservedly popular. American 
Christians have been singing George J. Elvey’s “ Diade- 
mata” pretty generally in recent years, and it is worthy 
of even wider use. 


THE SELECTION OF HYMN TUNES 171 


“St. Christopher,” by Frederick C. Maker, set to Mrs. 
Elizabeth C. Clephane’s “ Beneath the Cross of Jesus,” 
and “ Rest,” usually set to Whittier’s words, “ Dear Lord 
and Father of Mankind,” do not belong to this school, 
being Nonconformist in origin, but are expressive and 
strong. 

There are a score or more of these modern English 
tunes, like St. Agnes, Stephanos, Laudes Domini, The 
Good Fight, Almsgiving, Pax Tecum, Jude, Homeland, 
Paradise, Regent Square, St. George, that are fairly tune- 
ful and practical and deserve a place in every hymnal. 

The mass of the unmentioned modern English hymn 
tunes are dull and insipid, studied and forced in harmony, 
as well as angular and untuneful. They represent a good 
deal of excellent mechanical technique, and that, presum- 
ably, has impressed American hymnal editors who over- 
load their books with them. 

e. Gospel Songs. The minister should acquaint him- 
self with at least the generally accepted Gospel songs, for 
they meet needs that the standard hymns and tunes do not 
supply. It is very objectionable to use great hymns for 
mere unifying and stimulating purposes at the beginning 
of a free order of service. Many Gospel songs are admir- 
ably fitted for that purpose. A passive, indifferent con- 
gregation can sing “There is Sunshine in My Soul,” or 
“ Rescue the Perishing,” or “ Work, for the Night is Com- 
ing” with good results; to sing “Come, Thou Almighty 
King,” “ All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” or “ My 
Faith Looks Up to Thee” would be a hypocrisy on the 
part of the people and render the hymns stale. 

Then, on the other hand, there are tender, intimate Gos- 
pel songs of a subjective piety that meet emotional mo- 
ments in a church service or in a prayer meeting, more 
effectively than a more objective standard hymn of greater 


172 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


dignity. ‘“ What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is not as 
great a hymn as Montgomery’s “ Prayer is the Soul’s 
Sincere Desire,” but there are many circumstances when 
it is more impressive. “ My Jesus, I Love Thee” is not 
to be compared with “ When I Survey the Wondrous 
Cross,” but may often fit a given situation better in a 
service or in the prayer meeting. In prayer meetings the 
devotional folksong Gospel songs should be as freely used 
as the more subjective standard hymns. Indeed, the two 
classes approach each other so closely that it is difficult to 
draw the line between “ Nearer, My God, to Thee” and 
“ He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought,” and between “ My 
Faith Looks Up to Thee” and “I Need Thee Every 
Hour.” 

But just as we are singing only thirty or forty of 
Charles Wesley’s seven thousand hymns, so there are 
only thirty or forty out of twenty thousand Gospel songs 
whose use should be considered. If the meaning of the 
words were brought up into consciousness, how many 
ministers would be willing to sing about “The Great Day 
of the Lord” to the flippant words and tune of “ When 
the General Roll is Called”? Who would wish to sing 
“ Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed” to the popular tune 
and chorus, “ At the Cross,” in the jolly way it is 
usually so thoughtlessly sung? Yet if this latter music 
is sung softly, slowly and tenderly, it can be made very 
impressive. 

While Gospel songs have been too useful, in the foreign 
as well as in the home field, to be condemned en masse, 
they do call for most careful discrimination. The texts 
may be genuine enough in feeling, but written by incom- 
petent persons. A great many of them are written me- 
chanically, suggested not by personal experience, but by 
some catch phrase casually heard in a sermon, or picked 


THE SELECTION OF HYMN TUNES 178 


up in general reading, without any discrimination of 
spiritual values. The composer is all too often attracted 
by rhythm and jingle that will suggest a catchy melody, 
rather than by the thought or spiritual value of the verse. ’ 

A Gospel hymn need not be weighty or great, but it. 
must be sincere and genuine, expressive of some spiritual 
experience, aspiration, or urge of soul. Its popular appeal 
must be to the best that is in the people who are to sing 
and hear it, not to their rhythmical nerves or their idle 
fancy. There is no room for “The Beautiful Isle of 
Somewhere,” or “ Death is Only a Dream,” or the crass 
metaphor of Christ as the conductor of a Gospel train. 
The vulgarity of such lines as the following is beyond 
expression, but they are taken from a book with both 
American and English imprint: 


“TI would rather be enlisted to fight the fight of faith, 
And give and take no quarter in that war, 
Than enjoy religious clatter for a season on the earth, 
And go down to hell a multi-millionaire.” 


To rule out music in triple time, or containing dotted 
eighths and sixteenths is merely the “gush of amateur- 
ism.” ‘To drop out the dot and make the second note an 
eighth does not significantly change the music. “ Brighten 
the Corner Where You Are ” is a useful song at the be- 
ginning of a meeting where nervous stimulus preparatory 
to more serious work is needed. ‘The criticism must go 
deeper. The melody must have pleasing, appealing indi- 
viduality, must be expressive and must give the nervous 
or other effect required in some sort of church work. In 
ninety-nine out of a hundred Gospel songs the appeal, 
where it exists at all, is short-lived. If only the appeal is 
genuine, that does not matter; the same is true of nine 
hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand sermons! 


174 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


After a just and unprejudiced canvass of the Gospel 
song, the verdict must be a divided one: there is a limited 
number whose use is entirely justified in prayer meetings 
and evening or other free services and occasionally in a 
regular service. A larger, but still limited, number may 
be used in evangelistic meetings. The body of published 
Gospel songs must be canvassed only with most careful 
discrimination and adaptation to special needs. 


4. PsyCHOLOGICAL VALUE OF Hymn TuNEsS 


Few ministers realise that the congregational singing 
gives the keynote to the spirit of the whole service and 
that more largely than most ministers realise it is the 
influence of the tunes that are sung that counts. The wise 
minister who is alert to the psychological factors which, 
next to the presence of the Holy Spirit, influence its suc- 
cess, and who will have determined beforehand whether 
the service shall be jubilant, exalted, placid, tender or 
heart-searching, will select his hymns, and their tunes as 
well, to suit his purpose. Choosing between two hymns, 
he will decide on the one with the tune that assists his 
plans best. 


5. Usk GENERAL FAVOURITES 


Where the exigencies of the service permit, it will be 
well to give the people an opportunity to sing their favour- 
ites. Why one tune is more attractive than another, who 
can say? ‘These more popular tunes ought, therefore, to 
be given an opportunity to accomplish the results they are 
somehow fitted to realise. How to draw the line between 
utilising such a tune to its full extent and by excessive use 
wearing out its power and producing a reaction in the 
minds of the congregation, every minister must work out 
for himself by experiment. 


THE SELECTION OF HYMN TUNES 175 


6. REHEARSAL OF UNKNOWN TUNE 


If for peremptory reasons, the minister decides to sing 
a hymn with a tune not known by his congregation, he 
should have it well rehearsed by his choir in advance, 
have it sung by them alone entirely, or ask his people to 
remain silent for one or two verses and then join in the 
remainder of the hymn. Where there is no choir some 
soloist may be asked to take the place of the choir. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. What is the average minister’s attitude towards hymn tunes? 

2. Which is more effective, an excellent hymn with a poor tune, 
or a passable hymn with a good tune? 

. Is a minister’s faith in his hymnal always justified? 

. How may a minister study the tunes in his hymnal? 

What is for him the final test of an available tune? 

. Why may accepted American tunes be assumed to be useful? 

What arrangements from German sources may be accepted? 

. What tunes of English origin may be taken for granted as 
available? 

. Why should discrimination be used in selecting modern 
English tunes? 

10. Give ten of them that are entirely practicable. 

11. Why should some of the modern hymn tunes be avoided? 

12. What influence have the selected hymn tunes for a service 

upon its spirit and its success, and why? 

13. Shall a minister always accept the hymnal editor’s judgment? 

14. Why should favorite tunes have the preference? 

15. If an unknown tune must be sung, what preparation must be 

made for it? 


CON AMPS &W 


\o 


XIII 
LEADERSHIP IN CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


1. THE PRECENTOR 


What has been said of the importance of general par- 
ticipation in congregational singing leads to the practical 
consideration of the best methods of securing it. Here at 
once the question of leadership confronts us. In many 
churches it is solved by having a general precentor. Much 
may be said in favour of such a leader. A precentor is 
useful as a general is useful to an army. An assembly of 
persons who are to sing together needs someone to keep 
them together in time, in expression and in feeling. 
Where there is uncertainty, or faltering, the precentor 
carries them over the difficulty. 

a. The Minister as Precentor. Of course, in small con- 
gregations or where the musical resources are limited, it 
may be that the minister himself, provided he has the 
requisite singing voice, will prove to be the very best 
precentor that can be secured, even though he be not 
officially recognised as such. Under such conditions the 
musical minister shines out most brilliantly and effec- 
tively, combining the devotional, the didactic, and the 
musical leadership; he can give a unity of spirit to his 
services that is frequently missed where the responsibility 
is divided. 

Nor is the valuable effect on his personal development 
to be overlooked. Rev. Wm. E. Barton, D.D., brings out 
the personal results in a very clear and convincing way, 


176 


LEADERSHIP IN SINGING 177 


though he refers to mere personal participation in the 
singing, rather than to the actual leadership. 

“ Congregational singing is good for a minister’s voice. 
A minister who habitually sings is less likely to have throat 
trouble than one who does not. If he cultivates the mid- 
dle register of his voice, not for professional singing, but 
only for the pleasure of joining his congregation in simple 
hymns, he will find his voice gaining in flexibility and 
effectiveness. ‘The laws of good preaching and good sing- 
ing are not very different. No minister ought to preach 
in a sing-song tone, but a singing voice has in it an added 
element of carrying power, as outdoor speakers learn in 
time. The habit of singing is favourable to a good flow 
of words and is a check upon natural impediments of 
speech. Most stutterers can sing.” 

Indeed, he might have carried the argument a step 
further and suggested vocal training, not for the purpose 
of solo singing, but for the improvement of the speaking 
quality of the voice. Many a preacher speaks in an un- 
pleasant tone and regards it as a minor infelicity. It is 
not so. A harsh rasping tone of voice, which grates upon 
the nerves of the hearer is an exceedingly serious disabil- 
ity, and one which is only partially atoned for by fine 
thought and elevating spirituality. Beautiful thoughts 
should be expressed in clear, melodic tones. 

But such a union of offices is very exhausting, and it is 
not every minister who can bear the strain. In propor- 
tion as the work of the service is elaborate and taxing, the 
union of all those offices in the minister will become less 
and less possible. 

Yet the minister should study the problems of precen- 
torship most carefully and thoroughly. He must know 
what can and what cannot be done. He must be able to 
initiate new methods, new applications, new points to be 


178 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


made in the congregational song; for, after all, he is the 
great initiating, because unifying, force of the service. 
Besides, he is the head of the service, and he should 
know to a nicety just what is to be expected from his 
precentor, and why. Else his suggestions and criticisms 
can have no basis of competency and his official headship 
is a pitiable farce. The preacher owes it to his precentor 
to know as much about leading a congregation in song as 
the precentor himself, if not a little more! Not that he 
need be a better precentor, since he may lack the singing 
voice and musical training, but because he should more 
clearly see the final objective of all congregational song, 
and because, presumably, he has had better opportunities 
of hearing great leaders of song and studying their work. 
He ought to be able to substitute in a more or less com- 
petent way for his precentor in the latter’s absence, or if 
he has a sudden glimpse of opportunity for making a de- 
sirable impression in the course of a hymn, to be able 
genially to take over the precentorship for a moment. 


2. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD PRECENTOR 


a. A Man of Good Address. ‘The ideal precentor is not 
easily found. He ought to be a man of good presence, of 
attractive manners, and of easy carriage before the public. 
He should be somewhat of a general, with a masterful 
element in his composition, with a quick responsiveness 
to the moods of the congregation, and a keen insight into 
the differing conditions. The iron hand, however, ought 
to be well clothed in velvet, for mere masterfulness does 
not harmonise well with spiritual work. 

b. A Man of Piety. Need it be said that he ought to 
be a good man, with the respect and confidence of the 
community? If he is to accomplish the results that ought 
to be realised, he must needs be much more,—a thor- 


LEADERSHIP IN SINGING 179 


oughly devout and spiritual man. The people will not 
likely go further than they are led. If the precentor is a 
mere singing school master, teaching them from a purely 
musical standpoint, there will be very little devoutness or 
spirituality in the service. 

c. The Precentor’s Voice. Usually a good voice is sup- 
posed to be the most important part of the precentor’s out- 
fit; but, really, a very moderate voice in strength and 
attractiveness will be much more desirable combined with 
the qualities already noted than a phenomenal voice with- 
out them. A great voice is an advantage to a precentor, 
of course, but since most of the tunes are known to the 
congregation and the organ carries them, the leader’s voice 
is not actually essential. 

d. Ability to Comment. If the precentor has a gift for 
pithy comment that will revitalise and spiritualise the 
hymn, so much the better, but it should be well controlled. 
A talking precentor will act as a brake to the progress of 
a service and may even prove a platitudinous bore! 

e. Power to Win and Control a Congregation. The art 
of leading congregational singing is not so easy as some 
people imagine. It is something more than simply to 
stand before a congregation and sing the tune. The 
proper relations must be established between the leader 
and the congregation before the best results can be 
reached. Once the congregation feels that the leader is 
himself uncertain as to the tune, that he has no definite 
conception of its spirit, rhythm, or tempo, that he has not 
that masterfulness which compels their cheerful obedi- 
ence, the best results are already impossible. If, on the 
other hand, the leader by his known character and ability, 
or by his manner and spirit before the congregation, has 
won the confidence and good-will of the people, so that 
they will cheerfully yield to his direction, the battle is half 


180 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


won. ‘To establish this relation, the precentor must have 
resolution and courage. He must have his work well in 
hand, know exactly what he wishes to accomplish and how 
to accomplish it. He must have the magnetism that 
attracts and controls. 

f. Emotional and Sympathetic Power. Emotional 
power, the gifts of enthusiasm, tenderness, devoutness, 
and spiritual insight,—all are exceedingly valuable char- 
acteristics in a precentor; but of even greater value is a 
strong, firm will, subconscious rather than self-conscious 
in its action, and under the perfect control of good judg- 
ment and discriminating tact. 

g. Excessive Physical Demonstrations. In their effort 
to impress a congregation, many precentors are altogether 
too demonstrative and “ fussy.” They beat the air, roar 
with stentorian voices and make grimaces that are awful 
to behold. Nothing could be wider of the mark than such 
excessive demonstration, even if we do not take account 
of the distraction from devotion which their manner 
creates. Others, on the contrary, are so exceedingly 
sedate in their manner that they make an impression of 
something wooden and mechanical, spirit and enthusiasm 
being entirely absent. 

h. The Leader Should Be Adapted to the Sttuation. 
The type of leader to be secured depends on the work to 
be done. The calm, steady leadership of the late E. O. 
Excell exactly fitted the dignity of the great conventions in 
which he did his best work. He had no oratorical im- 
pulses, he was simply a song leader, but his strong will 
and massive self-confidence almost forced the people 
to sing. 

Charles W. Alexander was at his best in evangelistic 
services. He had the motive temperament to a high de- 
gree. He was enthusiastic, spirited, emotional, aggres- 


LEADERSHIP IN SINGING 181 


sive, masterful, and above all spiritual, and swayed great 
audiences with wondrous power. By the time the song 
service was over, his audience was athrill with spiritual 
interest and feeling, and tuned up to receive the message 
of the evangelist. 

Hence, in the choice of a precentor there should be an 
analysis of the situation and a clear formulation of the 
exact objective to be reached by the service in order that 
proper adaptation of man and results may be achieved. 


3. Tur CHorr As LEADER 


Leadership by a successful precentor is the primary and 
ideal method in the service of song. But where such a 
helper cannot be found, it may be well to have the singing 
led by a quartet or by a chorus choir. Should the pre- 
centor have such a choir at his command, it will add to the 
possibilities of his work. But without the precentor, a 
choir may be extremely useful in leading the congrega- 
tional singing. It can at least carry the musical part of 
the work, while the minister in the pulpit furnishes the 
spiritual, devout, and inspiring elements that are needed 
to make the song service vital. 

To select the hymns and hand them to the choir director 
just before the opening of the service, as is too often done, 
will make good leadership by the choir impossible. With 
fresh, enthusiastic, intelligent practice of the tune in its 
relation to the particular hymn which is to be sung, they 
will come before the congregation with a courage and an 
aggressiveness and a spiritual interpretation that are 
absolutely impossible where the minds of the singers 
must be concentrated upon the mere notes of the tune, 
and where the spiritual attention is distracted by the 
effort to make the unwonted combination of the words 
and the notes. 


182 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


Our great leaders in evangelistic song lay great stress 
upon the necessity of such a choir to the success of their 
musical work. In the Moody Bible Institute, at Chicago, 
there is a great choir of 150 voices under the direction of 
very competent leaders. With such a choir, it does not 
matter whether the song which needs-to be sung is known 
to the general congregation or not. It will thus be seen, 
after all, where the musical resources permit it, the most 
effective and most resourceful leadership will be found in 
the combination of the efficient precentor and the strong 
chorus choir. 


4. INSTRUMENTAL LEADERSHIP 


Where no leader with a sufficiently strong voice can be 
secured, a cornet will make a passable substitute. Such a 
cornetist, however, will need the masterful qualities of a 
precentor in order to get good results. Where there is no 
choir and the congregation is large and more or less un- 
wieldy, several cornets may be located at various strategic 
points with good effect. It should be remarked, however, 
that no precentor should be asked to sing in competition 
with these instruments. In small meetings the cornet 
should be used only in the absence of a vocal precentor, 
and in large meetings should take the place of the leader’s 
voice. In the latter case the cornetist should be im- 
pressed with his subordination to the general precentor 
in his leadership. Where stringed instruments and the 
softer wood instruments can be secured, they will add 
greatly to the richness of the result without adding strain 
to the precentor’s efforts. In the foregoing discussion 
there has been no effort to distinguish between the leader- 
ship of song in regular services and in special meetings. 
The principles involved are the same, and good sense will 
adapt them to the varied circumstances of church life. 


LEADERSHIP IN SINGING 183 


5. Tue OrcANn As LEADER 


One of the strongest factors in the leadership of the 
congregational singing is the organist and his organ. 

a. Defects of the Organ. There has been, of late years, 
a reaction from the old antagonism against organs which 
has led to an undue emphasis of their value. In many 
congregations the organ relieves the members of their 
sense of obligation to participate. It covers the deficien- 
cies in the singing, it is true, but it also obscures and 
neutralises the vibrant, psychical value of human song. 

b. Importance of the Organist. But an organist who 
has no sympathy with American congregational singing 
can do immense harm. He can play our rhythmical tunes 
with such excessive emphasis of the rhythm and with such 
excessive speed that they become flippant and irreverent. 
He can so vary the harmonic structure of regular hymn 
tunes as to break up the part singing so characteristic of 
American church music. His secularity of style and flip- 
pancy of interpolated grace notes and rhythmical by-play 
can rob the entire service of song of its devoutness. Even 
the precentor is helpless in his hands, if he chooses to be 
independent of all direction. After all, the organ is much 
more powerful than any single voice, and if the organist 
does not subordinate himself to the wishes of the minister 
and of the precentor, nothing but confusion can result.1 

c. “Playing Over” the Tune. Let the introductory 
playing of the tune clearly announce the tonality, the gen- 
eral tempo, and the spirit in which it is to be sung. To 


*“Tt is far better to spend money for a skilful player of tunes 
for the church services, the prayer meetings and the Sunday- 
school, and limit the music to hymn singing, than to sacrifice the 
latter in favour of the most exquisite choir music or the most 
popular organ recitals.”—Waldo S. Pratt in “ Musical Ministries 
in the Church.” 


184 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


race through it pell-mell will give at most only the tonal- 
ity, and not always that with organists who wish to dis- 
play their skill by means of brilliant chromatic variations. 
The extremely soft introduction, characterised by the 
great organist, W. T. Best, as the “ I-hope-I-don'’t- 
intrude” method, is even worse in its ineffectiveness. 
Usually it is a waste of precious time for the organist to 
play over the whole tune before the singing by the congre- 
gation, particularly if it is well known. Sir Joseph 
Barnby played only the first line, or at most the first two 
lines of the hymn tunes.? 

d. Expressive Playing. As Rev. Prof. H. von Berge 
wisely insists, “The organist should always carefully 
study his hymns before he plays them, and endeavour to 
bring out the changes of thought and feeling in his play- 
ing. He must play not only the tune, but also the text, as 
it were.” 

Prof. Hugo Goodwine carries the thought a step 
further and urges that “The organist must be in sym- 
pathy with the hymn and should so interpret it that the 


? Speaking of the prelude to hymns and anthems, the late Mr. 
H. E. Parkhurst, the organ virtuoso, writes: ‘This introduction 
is not only to serve in giving the key and the tempo to the singers, 
but to modulate the mood of both choir and congregation into 
harmony with the text and its setting, now stirring them to a 
jubilant frame of mind, and now subduing them to the quiet in- 
fluences of pianissimo. ‘The organist who is indifferent to this 
function of the prelude impairs the vocal effect that follows; and 
if the choir be properly trained, they learn to catch instantly the 
mood appropriate to their own opening strains. The effect upon 
the audience is no less happy; for the success of the choral per- 
formance depends largely upon the sympathetic attitude of the 
listener; thus upon the organist devolves the duty of moulding 
the feelings of both choir and congregation into a receptive 
condition.” 


LEADERSHIP IN SINGING 185 


attention of all will be riveted on its message and that 
everything else shall be forgotten. If, during the hymn, 
any attention is directed toward either the organist, or 
toward his instrument, he is failing. It is this that makes 
the use of the unusual effects, such as harp, chimes, etc., 
of such questionable value in hymn playing.” For this 
reason chromatic phrases and running passages are to be 
avoided, but also because they are out of keeping and in 
bad taste. However, in a last climacteric verse, the pedals 
may have more variational movement, adding strength 
and vigour. 

e. Things to Avoid. Harmonic or contrapuntal 
“stunts” are in execrable taste in accompanying a con- 
gregation. Moreover, the basses and altos who cannot 
sing the tune without strain and discomfort have rights 
which the organist is bound to respect. If he makes a 
display of himself, (in more senses than one) let him do 
it in his organ numbers which are his sole responsibility. 
Rev. Prof. C. B. McAfee, D.D., enforces this caution 
when he writes, “Let organists play the tunes as they 
are written, without confusing changes of harmony, which 
are more pleasing to themselves, but which disturb us 
simple-minded people who want to sing the music as we 
know it.” 

Prof. Harvey B. Gaul, who has written much and 
wisely regarding church music, warns church organists 
against still another too frequent display of bad taste: 
“There is one thing that should be conspicuous by its 
absence, to use an old Irishism, in the playing of hymns, 
and that is the use of the Tremulant, or Vox Humana, or 
stops of kindred type. The effect of the tremolo in hymn 
tunes is too mawkish, too amateurishly sweet, and is 
something that should be left for the delectation of the 
rural melodeon player.” The excessive use of solo stops 


186 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


with a hymn tune is to be deprecated as, in direct pro- 
portion to its striking character, it becomes wearisome 
and cheap. 

While marked changes of tempo are to be avoided, there 
may be slight accelerations and retardings used to express 
the feeling of the hymn more effectively. In the final 
climax of a hymn a combined rit. and cres. will often 
prove very impressive. Some organists are obsessed with 
the idea that legato playing only is fitting for the pipe 
organ. That is a mistake. Staccato has an important 
place, supplying the contrast that makes the legato more 
effective. Occasionally, with a strong tune and an ele- 
vated text, it may be well to double the inner parts and 
get a more sonorous effect. This can easily be overdone, 
however, and should be indulged in with discretion. 

f. Varied Registration. Prof. Hugo Goodwine advises 
that “a tune such as ‘ St. Anne’s’ should be played very 
conservatively and in chorale-like manner; a prayerful 
tune such as ‘ Abide with Me,’ may well be played on a 
sympathetic solo stop with a soft accompaniment; a mar- 
tial tune, such as “ Fling Out the Banner,” should be 
rousingly played.” It will emphasise the tender sentiment 
of some individual stanzas to omit the organ accompani- 
ment entirely, or if experiment shows that the congrega- 
tion will flat, to give only organ support enough to hold 
the people up to pitch. 

While an organist has more freedom in “ giving out ” 
the hymn tune, his registration for the accompanying of 
the congregation should be full-bodied, broad, with a good 
diapason foundation. ‘Two factors should not be over- 
looked: the size of the auditorium, and the size of the 
particular congregation. For the organ to submerge the 
congregation in the accompanying of the hymn, is the 
unpardonable sin. 


‘ 


LEADERSHIP IN SINGING 187 


g. Helping the Congregation. (1) The organist can be 
a great help in keeping a large congregation up to time. 
If he will play in a marked, staccato way, it will in the 
first place very greatly assist the congregation in getting a 
sense of the time desired, and in the second place in keep- 
ing up to that time. (2) Again the organist can be of 
great assistance by indicating the varying force to be used 
by the congregation. If a plaintive stanza is to be sung, 
the organist can change his registration and, as he plays 
more softly, the dullest singer in the congregation will 
appreciate that he is not to bellow. On the other hand, if 
some great, triumphal stanza is to be sung, he can pull out 
his loud stops, perhaps even his mixtures and whether 
consciously or unconsciously, the congregation will also 
pull out all their stops and sing with might and main. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. Why is a precentor valuable? 
2. When may a minister act as precentor? 
3. What is the advantage of such an arrangement to the con- 
gregation? To the minister himself? 
4. What is the preacher’s relation to the precentor? 
5. What essential personal characteristic should mark the 
precentor? 
6. Is a fine voice absolutely essential to the precentor? 
7. What three abilities are important? 
8. Why should a precentor not indulge in violent motions? 
9. How should a precentor fit into his work? 
10. What substitute for a precentor can be used? 
11. What instrumental substitute may be available? 
12. Will the organist and his instrument function as a leader? 
13. What defects has the organ as a leader? 
14. How should the organist “play over” the tune? 
15. Why should the organist study the hymn? 
16. What should the organist avoid? 
17. How should the organist vary his registration? 
18. State how the organist can help the congregation. 


XIV 


METHODS IN CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


Class Room Suggestions: If there is time available, there should 
be an exercise in the announcing of hymns and in prefatory com- 
ment on them. Tender, intimate hymns addressed to any person 
of the Deity should not be used for these mechanical exercises. 
There are plenty of didactic hymns available. 


1. Tue Purposts oF Its Use 


Before taking up the methods to be observed in congre- 
gational singing, it may be well to recapitulate the pur- 
poses of its use. 

a. It must be physically, that is, nervously, stimulating. 

b. It must unify the congregation, in thought and feel- 
ing, welding it into an organised unit in which only 
one common thought and feeling exists, prepared for the 
common experience that follows. 

c. It must be mentally stimulating and inspirational. 

d. It must be a vehicle for instruction and exhortation. 

e. It must help express worship and adoration. 

It does not follow that every congregational exercise in 
song must serve all of these objectives. It may serve only 
one at first and secure others as it proceeds. 


2. Five EsseNTIALS 
For effective congregational singing five things are 
essential. 
a. It must secure at least one of the foregoing objects 
of church music. 
b. It must be distinctively congregational, participated 


188 


METHODS IN SINGING 189 


in by the whole assembly, and not a mere adjunct to the 
choir. 

c. The hymn must be catholic and broad in its senti- 
ment, expressing a common experience, a common feeling, 
or a common aspiration and not an unusual individualistic 
mental attitude. 

d. The tunes must be singable, in the idiom of the av- 
erage member of the congregation and within the range of 
the average singer both in grade of difficulty and in scale. 

e. The body of the tunes used must be more or less 
familiar to the congregation. Only occasionally may an 
unfamiliar tune be introduced, and then only after ade- 
quate preparation of some kind. 

Bearing these fundamental considerations in mind, we 
may proceed to the careful study of the management of 
the congregational song service. 


3. THE TREATMENT OF THE HYMN 


As the hymn supplies the fundamental occasion for 
congregational singing and as the impressing of its mes- 
sage is the ultimate goal, its introduction is of vital 
importance. 

a. The Announcement on the Hymn. It is generally 
assumed that anyone can announce a hymn and introduce 
its singing. In a service connected with an assembly of 
ministers, the announcement of the hymn is assigned to 
some less conspicuous member of the body. The result 
of this view of the importance of the hymn is that prob- 
ably the least successful work of ninety-nine out of a 
hundred ministers is their preparation for the song service 
of the church. Some ministers are lavish with their 
“kindlys ” and “ pleases ” that are nauseous to those who 
recognise that the hymn is not sung as a personal favour 
to the preacher, but as worship of the Divine Being. 


190 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


b. Mutilation of the Hymn. At this point a word of 
warning against the unintelligent omission of verses will 
be in place. Some ministers invariably restrict the num- 
ber to be sung to three or four. If there are five verses, 
they invariably omit the third and fourth, or invariably 
announce, “ We will sing the first three verses,” no mat- 
ter what the development of thought may be. Some wit, 
in view of the general antipathy of ministers to the third 
verse, has suggested that hymn writers hereafter be care- 
ful not to write a third verse. If a congregation sings a 
hymn well, five four-line verses are none too many. 

How this heedless omission of verses in a hymn affects 
its sense may be illustrated with Watt’s great classic, 
“ Alas, and Did My Saviour Bleed.” Omit the third verse 
and what meaning is there to the words, “thus” and 
“blushing ” in the first line of the fourth verse, “Thus 
might I hide my blushing face,” since the line, “ Well 
might the sun in darkness hide,” has been omitted? If 
the fourth verse is not sung with its closing line, “ And 
melt mine eyes to tears,” what justification has the first 
line of the fifth, “ But drops of grief can ne’er repay”? 
This close relation of thought of the several verses is 
very common in our hymms and rarely can one of them be 
omitted without doing violence to the progress of the 
thought. One of the most painful manifestations of min- 
isterial thoughtlessness and indifference to the congrega- 
tion’s share of the service is this brutal mutilation of the 
hymns. 4 

c. The Reading of the Hymn. A great many people 
deprecate the minister’s reading of the hymns; but that is 
because so few ministers are able to read hymns with any 
degree of impressiveness or reality. Perhaps half the 
ministers who read them leave no desirable impression 
whatever as the result, for the reading has been without 


METHODS IN SINGING 191 


even a thoughtful sense of the meaning of the hymn, much 
less of its emotional force. On the other hand, if the min- 
ister’s mind and heart are profoundly awake to the 
thought and feeling of the hymn that is to be used, if the 
minister has a definite purpose which he wishes to realise 
through the singing of that hymn, if the whole song serv- 
ice is thoroughly vital and earnest, he cannot help but 
read the hymn in such a way as to impress and interest 
his people. It has been found effective to play music ex- 
pressing the sentiment of the hymn during its reading. 
Of course, the reading must be slow and emphatic. ‘The 
fact that the hymn is a familiar one may be only an addi- 
tional reason for reading it, instead of being, as is usually 
supposed, an imperative reason for omitting its reading. 
As coins long in circulation lose their superscription, these 
familiar words often lose their meaning and reality by 
constant use; these may be restored by intelligent and 
emotional reading. 

It is not advisable to form a mere habit of reading a 
hymn through. The situation, the purpose in view, the 
character of the service and the time allotted to it, even 
the preacher’s own passing mood, all are factors that need 
to be considered. Instead of reading the whole hymn at 
the beginning, there may occasionally be a reading of each 
or of some one stanza, as it is sung, if the thought of the 
hymn will bear such separation of its parts. 

d. Prefatory Comment on the Hymn. As has been 
already suggested, the chief weakness in our song service 
is its perfunctoriness. People sing the most devout and 
spiritual hymns with absolute indifference, with appar- 
ently no sense of their meaning, and certainly with no 
appropriation to themselves of the experiences expressed. 
What is needed to make our song service what it ought to 
be is the revitalisation of these hymns. One of Wesley’s 


192 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


rules regarding singing was “ Often stop short when the 
words are given out and ask the people, ‘ Now, do you 
know what you said last? Did you speak no more than 
you ‘felt ?,’:” 

That a congregation knows a hymn and its tune well 
and sings it vigourously does not prove that it is success- 
fully used. The only result may be a physical exhilaration 
due to the heart stimulus produced by the nervous excite- 
ment and the necessary deep breathing. ‘There must not 
only be strong singing, but intelligent and emotionally 
earnest singing. The needed intelligence and emotional 
sincerity must be injected where they are wanting, or 
stimulated where they are feeble. In connection with the 
original reading of the hymn, or with the reading of the 
separate stanzas, there may be interesting comment or 
development of the idea expressed. It may be wise to 
emphasise and impress upon the congregation the thoughts 
to which they give musical utterance and so awaken the 
very emotions these hymns are intended to express. 

Again there may be a statement of the historical con- 
nections of the hymn to be sung, a few words regarding 
the author, or the circumstances under which it was writ- 
ten, or its relation to the church life at the time when it 
was written. The results that have been achieved through 
the singing of this particular hymn may be brought out in 
an interesting and forceful way. Indeed there is no better 
way in which a congregation may be brought into tune 
with a hymn which they are all about to make the expres- 
sion of their feeling than by arousing that feeling by the 
use of appropriate and effective emotional anecdotes. 


*“This practice of prefacing singing by explanation or incite- 
ment may easily be overdone, but has no small value when ju- 
diciously pursued.”—-Waldo S. Pratt in “ Musical Ministries in 
the Church.” 


METHODS IN SINGING 198 


Who shall make those comments must be determined by 
the resources at hand. If the leader is competent to make 
them, it will greatly unify the song service and greatly 
relieve the strain upon the preacher. But leaders who are 
spiritual enough to see the need, and intelligent enough to 
meet it with wisdom and effectiveness, are rare. It 
usually becomes the preacher’s privilege to supply the in- 
tellectual and spiritual energy. 

In making these comments on the hymn it is not simply 
a matter of creating a general interest, historical or liter- 
ary, but of reproducing the emotional and spiritual atmos- 
phere of the verses to be sung. If that is not done, the 
comment is a failure no matter how brilliant, scholarly, or 
entertaining it may be. 

One point must be guarded; the beauty and effective- 
ness of its music must never be allowed to obscure the 
literary, and more especially the spiritual values of a 
hymn. The more popular a sacred song becomes the more 
likely are its words to lose their weight and the more need 
is there of emphasising their sentiment. 

The preacher may organise the historical facts of hym- 
nology for a series of ten-minute talks between the hymn 
following long prayer and the announcements and offer- 
tory, or better yet, make them the basis of his prayer 
meeting talks for several months. If accompanied by 
comments on the hymns involved, such a series of lectures 
_ need not lack the needed devotional element. 

Some solemn warnings ought to be given regarding the 
free treatment of the hymns in church service. In the 
first place, don’t talk unless you have something to say, 
and can put into that something the earnest feeling you 
desire to develop among your people. Do not gauge the 
value of your remarks by their intellectual interest, but by 
their emotional impressiveness. Do not assume that his- 


194 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


torical information about a hymn or its writer is always in 
place. It must always be remembered that sentiment and 
feeling, not intellectual apprehension of facts or principles, 
are the proper content of the song service, and all comment 
and illustration must be governed by that consideration. 

Then there must be sincerity. If a hymn does not 
express your own sincere feeling, and so deepen and in- 
tensify it, better keep still about it. Forced sentiment, 
feelings that are so consciously sought for that you can 
hear the creaking of the pump, are nauseous to all right- 
minded persons, and how much more to God. 

Above all, do not talk too much. This warning needs to 
be heeded particularly in regular church service where the 
people expect to sing when the hymn is announced. Com- 
pactness should be sought most earnestly. A single sen- 
tence containing a striking thought, brightly put and full 
of intense and sincere feeling, is worth more than five 
minutes of the rarest historical facts or of perfunctory 
exhortation that has no contagious heat. 

e. Developing the Emotional Phases of the Hymn. The 
pastor has a certain hymn whose emotional phases he de- 
sires to develop. He may read the hymn, as has been sug- 
gested, and bring out the thought and feeling, making it 
more impressive to the congregation. 

Then he may ask that the choir sing the hymn to an 
anthem setting which they have already practiced, fol- 
lowed by the singing of the hymn to its usual tune by the 
congregation; or he may ask that one of the soloists of 
the choir sing the hymn as a solo to a setting that brings 
out its spiritual value. 

Without such resources as these, he may suggest that 
the first stanza shall be sung as a solo to the tune the 
people expect to sing. The second stanza may be sung by 
the ladies of the congregation, and if the hymn is one of 


METHODS IN SINGING 195 


aggressiveness, and there are men enough in the congrega- 
tion to make it practicable, he may ask that the next stanza 
be sung by the men’s voices. If there is a large number of 
children in the congregation, they may be asked to sing a 
stanza that shall be appropriate to their fresh voices. If 
the hymn has a responsive element, it may be brought out 
by having the choir and congregation respond to each 
other, or by having different parts of the congregation sing 
antiphonally. Care must be taken that the mere mechanics 
of the method do not submerge the spiritual effects that 
are sought. 

When the congregation itself then sings the closing 
stanza with the interest that has been created by this 
varied method of singing, the minister will find that it is 
the culmination of an upward emotional movement that 
will realise the result he desires. 

Such methods will call out instant appreciation from the 
congregation, and it will respond to this fresh element in 
the service with enthusiasm and spirit. But such variety 
must depend upon the character of the service, as has 
already been indicated. 

It will add to the intelligibility and impressiveness of 
hymns if the people are asked to read in concert some 
single stanza of unusual appeal before singing it. Such a 
verse as the fourth of “How Firm a Foundation, Ye 
Saints of the Lord,” 


“ When thro’ the deep waters I call thee to go, 
The rivers of woe shall not thee over-flow ; 
For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless 
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress,” 


cannot but touch the deeps of Christian experience when 
first read and then sung with sincere earnestness and deep 


196 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


feeling. The same result may be approximated by repeat- 
ing the singing of such a verse. 

How many members of the congregations which fre- 
quently sing Heber’s great hymn of worship of the Trin- 
ity, “ Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty,” ever get a 
vision of the stupendous scene it pictures “round the 
glassy sea”? It becomes the minister’s privilege, no less 
than his duty, to lift the thoughts of his people to a plane 
of understanding and feeling worthy of the hymn by 
vividly portraying the picture drawn in the fourth chap- 
ter of Revelation. If properly done, the hymn will be 
sung much more intelligently and with more exaltation of 
feeling. 

f. The Vitalisation of Hymns is the Minister's Duty. 
The great enemy of interest in the public service is rou- 
tine. The very phrase, “stated service,’ has in it the 
suggestion of setness, of dullness, of exclusion of the 
fresh and interesting. Our congregational singing suffers 
because of the sheer monotony connected with it, which 
acts like a stupefying drug upon the sensibilities and 
spirits of the people. 

The very fact that the people are prone to sing per- 
functorily and mechanically the most exalted thoughts and 
the noblest words that have ever flowed from an unin- 
spired pen, only makes the duty laid upon the minister to 
prevent such insincerity and irreverence in the house of 
God more positive and imperative. Let it be said in the 
most emphatic manner possible, that if the people lie to 
God by singing praise they do not feel, or by bringing 
petitions they do not desire, if they hypocritically express 
consecrations they do not intend, or emotions they do not 
feel, if they address useless exhortations to their fellows 
that are insincere and that they themselves have no 
thought of carrying out, it is all the minister’s fault. 


METHODS IN SINGING 197 


4. PERSUADING THE CONGREGATION TO SING 


The methods to be used to induce general participation 
in the singing must depend on the character of the service. 
In the regular morning service devoted to the God-ward 
obligations of the people, unusual, distracting mechanical 
devices, such as may be used with profit in other less 
formal services are out of place. It would be very dis- 
turbing for the minister, or precentor to ask a congrega- 
tion to repeat the singing of a verse with an admonition to 
sing it better. But if the verse is read over by the min- 
ister with a word of comment on its spiritual message, the 
people will sing it very much better and at the same time 
be edified instead of disturbed. Any methods that are 
compatible with this elevated idea of the service, that 
plainly assist the people in attaining the proper attitude of 
mind for it, should be introduced even though unusual or 
unauthorised by general usage. 

It will depend somewhat on the attitude of the particu- 
lar congregation where the line of unfitness must be 
drawn; some congregations are more fastidious than 
others. If prefaced by a word stating why he wishes it 
done, it would seem that in any congregation the pre- 
centor may ask for the repetition of a stanza, perhaps 
more softly, perhaps more vigourously ; may ask that some 
particular stanza be sung by the choir or even by some 
soloist; may give suggestions as to the spirit and force in 
which a whole hymn or some part of it is to be sung; may 
make on his own initiative appropriate comment on what 
is to be sung. 


5. THE TREATMENT OF THE HYMN IN THE EVENING 
SERVICE 
But in the evening service, and other less formal meet- 
ings, he may take advantage of the devices already men- 


198 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


tioned to add spirit and freshness to the song service. If 
he has competent singers at hand, solos and duets, or 
quartets may be used, followed by the congregation as a 
whole. He can use a much more demonstrative style in 
bringing out the spirit and power of the congregation; he 
can give direction with reference to the singing, whether 
it shall be faster or slower, louder or softer; he can even 
interrupt a congregation in the midst of a stanza, if he 
has the courage and address necessary to do so gracefully, 
in order to secure a result they are missing. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 
. What five purposes does congregational singing serve? 
. What five essentials are necessary to successful congrega- 
tional singing? 


nN Re 


3. What importance has the announcement of the hymn? 

4. Why should care be used in omitting verses? 

5. Give reasons why the reading of the hymn may be omitted. 
6. Give reasons why the hymn should be read. 

7. Why should very familiar hymns be read? 

8. Why is prefatory comment on the hymn desirable? 

9. What should be the nature of this preliminary comment? 
10. Who shall make these comments? 

11. What methods may be used to give the people the history of 


the hymns they use? 

12. How may the singing be varied to create interest and to 
impress the emotion of the hymn? 

13. What warning regarding these comments should be heeded? 

14, What is the effect of having a congregation read a verse 
before singing it? 

15. Whose duty is it to vitalise the hymns the people sing? 

16. How may a congregation be persuaded to sing without dis- 
turbing the devoutness of the service? 

17. What methods may be used in the informal evening service? 


XV 


METHODS IN CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 
(CoNCLUDED) 


Class Room Suggestions: A part of the hour may well be used 
in experimenting in the singing of hymns; the speed may be 
varied on the different verses and the results noted. Always bear 
in mind that a large body of people must sing more slowly than 
a small one. There may also be experiments in varied expression, 
feeling out its limits. An experienced precentor will be useful in 
managing this laboratory work. 


6. EXPRESSION IN HyMNn SINGING 


a. Strong Impulse to Give Expression. ‘There is an 
occasional discussion of the desirability of expression in 
congregational singing. If attention is paid to the vari- 
ations of thought and feeling in the hymn, the impulse is 
sure to rise to express them with like variations of force 
and tempo in the tune. Some hymnal editors have been so 
impressed with the value of this expression that they have 
made a study of each individual line and indicated by the 
proper signs the desirable expression. 

b. The Limits of Practicability. However, the limits 
of practicability are soon passed. Imagine a congregation 
in singing Barnby’s “ May Christ Be Praised” singing 
the lines, 


p. When sleep her balm denies, 
My silent spirit sighs, 


very softly and then bursting out with the line, 


f. May Jesus Christ be praised! 
199 


200 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


Most volunteer choirs could not negotiate so sudden an 
access of force. 

An eminent organist, who must be nameless, in inter- 
preting Lyte’s “ Abide with Me,” referring to the line, 
“In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me,” advised that 
“there should be a body of tone at the beginning of the 
line, but ‘in death’ might be accompanied with telling 
effect on a very soft Swell organ, returning to the Great 
organ for the rest of the line.” 

To emphasise each varying phrase and to adapt the ex- 
pression thus minutely, is to make the singing a thing of 
shreds and patches. The general sentiment of the hymn 
is the governing consideration. Any variation above or 
below this general force must be governed and modified 
by the general impression that is to be made. 

Then the lack of training and practice in the congrega- 
tion must limit the extent and minuteness of the attempted 
expression. The less the general culture and discrimina- 
tion in any audience, the more limited are the possibili- 
ties. The mere size of a congregation will be a governing 
consideration ; the larger it is, the less easily will it be con- 
trolled. The character of the service or meeting, in the 
liberty it allows the precentor to suggest and urge minuter 
variations of expression, will also have a controlling vote. 
The personality of the precentor himself, his masterful- 
ness and tact, may be a decisive factor in influencing the 
amount of expression to be attempted. 

c. The Control of Expression. Not only the precentor, 
but the organist as well, is able to control the tempo and 
expression. Speaking of this matter of congregational 
expression, Henry Smart said in an interview: “If the 
rhythm is jubilant, I pile on the tone at the last verse, to 
any extent; but the people are always above it; or if the 
words suggest it, I go down to a diapason on the Swell 


METHODS IN SINGING 201 


shut. When I vary the tone, the congregation imitates 
perfectly. If I increase it, out they come; or in a rallen- 
tando they are with me exactly. We never had any con- 
gregational practices.” 1 If the selection of the hymns is 
left till the last moment and the precentor and organist 
are not notified at all, or at best only given a slip with the 
hymns at the opening service, there can be no hope of 
having good, expressive, effective congregational singing. 


7. SPEED IN HymMn SINGING 


The matter of speed in congregational singing is often a 
vexed, as well as vexing question. There is in it the con- 
trolling factor of personal temperament. Yet there must 
be some basis of agreement, for how can two men sing 
together unless they be agreed? 

a. No Set Pace for Hymn Tunes. There is no stand- 
ard tempo to be observed in hymn singing, although occa- 
sionally some mechanically minded musician contends for 
it. Mr. William Reed states the case correctly: “It 
should be noted that a uniform speed for hymns, as is 
sometimes attempted, is incorrect, both musically and 
sentimentally. Not only is the musical effect bad, because 
of the too rapid succession of chords, (Mr. Reed has in 
mind the rapid pace usually proposed by protagonists of 
a standard tempo) but the character of some texts be- 
comes inevitably distorted and vulgarised.” So distin- 
guished an authority as Dr. A. L. Peace, the great 
Glasgow organist, remarks on this point: “ No definite 


* When Smart was old and blind, an assistant always sat beside 
him on the organ stool. “ What’s the next verse all about?” he 
would ask, if he happened to forget. His desire was to play the 
organ accompaniment to express the sense of the words, and few 
organists could so adapt the music to the sentiment by their regis- 
tration and playing. 


202 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


standard can be applied to all tunes, as each one has its 
own individual character and the tune must be regulated 
accordingly. In the writer’s opinion the present tendency 
is to take the tunes too fast. This habit not only destroys 
their true character, but acts most prejudicially upon the 
congregational singing, which is the primary object of 
metrical music.” 

The varied sentiment of the hymns demands a varied 
speed in their tunes. “ Why Do We Mourn Departing 
Friends ” sung to “ China,” and “ Before Jehovah’s Aw- 
ful Throne,” sung to “ Old Hundredth,” and “ All Hail 
the Power of Jesus’ Name,” sung to “ Coronation,” for in- 
stance, are too diverse in spirit to be sung at the same 
pace. There would be conflict at once between the hymn 
and the music instead of the harmony that would enforce 
the message. The contribution of a hymn to a service 
may be entirely neutralised by an incongruous tempo. 

b. Tunes Have Their Individual Tempos. Like all 
other musical compositions, tunes have their individual 
tempos which bring out their values best. Who has not 
heard bright ‘‘ Coronation” dragged to death, or massive 
“Old Hundredth ” hurried pell mell to the utter subver- 
sion of its inherent dignity ? 

c. Classes of Hymn Tunes. Generally speaking, hymns 
of prayer, or penitence, should be taken slowly. Hymns 
of praise may be sung more rapidly ; however, pure wor- 
ship and adoration should be sung in a majestic, solemn 
tempo. Didactic hymns call for a medium pace. Horta- 
tory and inspirational hymns need a faster speed to realise 
their full value. The same hymn and tune may be sung 
quite differently in different services. ‘ Stand Up, Stand 
Up for Jesus” should be sung more rapidly and ani- 
matedly at a service devoted to missions, moral reform, 
and the like, than at the regular service, 


METHODS IN SINGING 208 


Changes of speed should be sparingly introduced in 
the course of the hymn. A slight rallentando, that is, a 
combined slowing up of the tune and a diminution 
of the force, may be used in the last two measures of 
a tune. 

d. Modtfying Conditions. Then the speed must depend 
on the size, the musical capacity and training, and the 
character of the audience. A small assembly of trained 
singers can successfully take a much faster time than a 
large congregation of average people; it can also take a 
much slower pace without a depressing, dragging effect, 
because its attack will be sharper and more exact. 

e. Character of Persons Making Up the Congregation. 
The character of the persons composing the audience also 
has a word to say. It is natural for children and young 
people to sing more rapidly and with more animation than 
older people. Hence there should be a corresponding 
difference in the way such a hymn as “ Onward, Christian 
Soldiers ” is sung. 

f. The Nature of the Meeting. A great convention of 
notables from all over the country will sing more slowly 
than a largely attended and rousing evangelistic service, 
or a young people’s rally. 

g. Avoiding Mechanical Routine. If there were no 
other reasons for varying the pace at which hymns are 
sung, the need of avoiding the soporific influence of mere 
routine would be sufficient. The congregation that habit- 
ulaly sings its hymns rapidly is to be condemned equally 
with that which habitually sings them slowly; both are 
wrong, both are dull with the resultant sameness. 

h. Two Serious Faults. There are two serious faults 
in hymn singing: one is to sing too slow, the other to sing 
too fast. The fundamental vice in both is that they are 
mechanical, that they have no regard for the demands of 


204 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


either hymn or music and that they make no account of 
attendant circumstances. 

To sing too slowly and draggingly is to miss most of 
the physical value of congregational singing, unless, as in 
the case of German congregations, added force takes the 
place of speed. There is little stimulus, inspiration, or 
exhilaration in singing unduly slowly. 

It is a trouble that cannot be cured in an instant without 
seriously disturbing the spirit of the service. There may 
be sluggishness due to poor ventilation which can be obvi- 
ated by opening a few windows at the top. Poco a poco, 
(little by little,) the precentor and organist should speed 
up the tempo until in the course of a month or two the 
proper pace is secured without the congregation being 
generally aware of it. 

Promptness and sharpness of attack on the part of the 
precentor, or choir, is an important beginning, for the 
usual accompaniment of slow speed is sluggishness of 
attack, dragging, lack of rhythm. The organist must not 
only hasten the movement more and more from Sunday 
to Sunday, but by sharp detached chords bring out the 
underlying rhythm. 

The minister can assist the movement by psychological 
treatment, not by scolding, for that spoils the effect of the 
service. He must break up the indifference and listless- 
ness that usually underlie the sluggish tempo by changes 
in the method of singing. He can also assist by choosing 
spirited hymns, by inspiring comment, by emphasis of the 
privilege of congregational song. 

While a too rapid pace secures one of the objectives of 
congregational singing—physical stimulus—it is apt to 
miss the more important spiritual results desired. 

Nine times out of ten when a leader proposes to show a 
congregation how to sing an established tune in a tempo 


METHODS IN SINGING 205 


more rapid than it is usually sung, he simply displays his 
incapacity rather than his superior knowledge. The leader 
takes pains to assert his position as leader by singing just 
a little ahead of the congregation, with an annoying, nag- 
ging effect of vainly trying to hurry the movement. 

The effort to “rush” a large congregation is always 
unwise. The leading evangelistic singers have learned the 
art of adapting their time to that of the congregation, with 
the most magnificent results. Everybody sings, because 
everybody feels that he can sing comfortably. 

Dr. Lowell Mason’s rule was “that the words receive 
an utterance about as rapid as a due regard to dignity, 
solemnity, time, place, and circumstances permits, and that 
an indolent, careless, and sluggish manner be avoided.” It 
should be said that this rule was formulated when the old- 
time drawl was still greatly in evidence. In our day the 
pendulum has swung to the other extreme. The pre- 
centors and the organists in many churches are running 
away with the tunes at such a rate that it is difficult for 
the people to pronounce the words properly, even if they 
had not the task of putting together the words and music 
foolishly placed on different parts of the page. 

Henry Smart, in an interview with Dr. J. S. Curwen, 
remarked: “I won’t play the tunes fast, and I'll tell them 
why. First, because it is vulgar; second, because it is 
musically wrong, for all music has its proper time; and 
third, because there is no authority for fast playing... . 
Those who have had the longest experience, such, for in- 
stance, as Goss, Hopkins and the late George Cooper, are 
the authorities, and they take the time slowly.” 

Wm. H. Monk, musical editor of ““ Hymns Ancient and 
Modern,” and composer of the admirable tune, “‘ Even- 
tide,’ makes a very sensible suggestion regarding this 
matter. He says he would take a narrative such as 


206 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


“When God of old came down from heaven” (he might 
include any hymn stating facts or doctrine) quickly. On 
the other hand, a contemplative hymn may be taken as 
slowly as may be wished. 

Sir Joseph Barnby, in the preface to his “The Hymn- 
ary,” protested against the tendency to hurry the time of 
church tunes after this vigourous fashion: “ Nothing 
could well be imagined more indecorous than the pace at 
which hymn music is taken in very many churches. Not 
alone may it be said that the music is utterly ruined by it, 
that the sanctuary is profaned, that the sacred words to 
which these strains are sung degenerate into a mockery; 
these evils are as nothing compared with the fact that 
those hurried strains are supposed to represent a sacrifice 
of praise, humbly offered at the throne of grace.” 


8. CONGREGATIONAL FLATTING 


There is no more distressing fault in congregational 
singing than flatting. 

a. Possible Causes of Flatting. It may be occasioned 
by dragging the tune, by atmospheric conditions due to 
bad weather, or by bad ventilation. Some few leading 
voices with a defective ear for pitch may affect the whole 
congregation. General listlessness and indifference may 
induce it. The organ may be out of tune. It may be due 
to the character of the tune—in a minor key, or with wide 
skips or chromatic intervals, or an inherent lack of 
interest. 

b. How to Cure Flatting. Where the difficulty is 
chronic, building up the interest in singing, speeding up 
the tempo, emphasising the tonality in “ giving out ” the 
tune, improving the ventilation, may all help. If the tunes 
are too high, the organist should transpose them a half or 
even a whole step lower. 


METHODS IN SINGING 207 


Where it is an acute and aggravated case, the organist 
may immediately transpose a half step lower to cover up 
the sagging of pitch. 

In this connection it may be worth suggesting that on a 
bright day, with a spirited congregation, a tune may be 
made more brilliant by transposing it a half step higher. 


9. UNISONAL SINGING 


There is an impulse often observable among organists 
to vary the monotony of playing the same tune over and 
over by changing the harmony. 

a. Fistorical Background. Unisonal singing is entirely 
in place in Europe, especially in Germany. Its historical 
roots run deep into the Middle Ages of Europe and into 
the later dark ages of German history, when harmony as 
we know it had not been developed, and the prevalent 
ignorance among the masses made any other than uni- 
sonal singing impossible. The whole musical service was 
shaped by this consideration. The more important part 
music was sung by trained choirs of boys and priests, 
where sufficient resources were at hand to provide them, 
while the ignorant populace sang a limited range of melo- 
dies, to which organ or other instrumental accompaniment 
was added where practicable. 

b. Instinctive Part Singing. Even where unisonal sing- 
ing is the rule, altos will be found singing a third below 
and basses will be heard growling a fifth or an octave, or 
even two octaves below. It need hardly be said that the 
result to educated ears is in neither case very pleasing or 
inspiring. 

So high an authority on the subject as Dr. Stainer 
argues against unisonal singing: “ Experience proves that 
pure unison singing never can and never will be adapted 
for parochial use. Providence has given mankind, 


208 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


roughly speaking, two broad divisions of voice, one high, 
the other low. Women and boys are either trebles or 
altos, men, either tenors or basses. ‘Those portions of 
unison music which lie comfortably in the range of the 
trebles and tenors are so uncomfortably high for altos and 
basses that they cannot long sustain them in tune. When 
the music, on the other hand, suits the range of the altos 
and basses, the other voices seem to have lost all bright- 
ness and beauty. It is no exaggeration to say that four 
part singing is more truly natural than singing in unison.” 

In the writer’s boyhood the chief church music he heard 
was the grand old German chorales sung in unison. While 
he never lacked appreciation for the chorales and their 
strong, impressive harmonies, the horrible discordant sing- 
ing of the melody was often unendurable. Half the men 
could not make a musical sound above C, but if the melody 
ran up to E, or even F, they still made a desperate effort 
to reach the high notes with the results impossible to de- 
scribe or even fittingly to characterise. Some reached D, 
a few FE flat, but with their stentorian lungs forcing these 
varied discordant tones, the effect suggested the bellowing 
of the priests of Baal. 

Unisonal congregational singing is an exotic importa- 
tion in America. The original sacred music issued in this 
country was fugal in style and the several parts found full 
recognition. Even where musical culture is absent, altos 
spontaneously feel for the third or sixth below the melody, 
and the basses strike the fundamental tones of the chord. 
The American individualism finds its musical expression 
in this part singing, just as the same democratic spirit does 
in Switzerland, and this national impulse will have its way. 
When the average American congregation really sings, it 
makes vastly better music than the average European. 

While what has been said is true regarding the exclusive 


METHODS IN SINGING 209 


use of the unison in congregational singing, as an occa- 
sional variation from the part singing it is extremely 
effective. If the tune does not run above D, a single verse 
of an elevated or intense character may well be sung as a 
unison. Even one or two lines may be emphasised in this 
way with good effect. The congregation should be noti- 
fied in immediate advance with just what verses or lines 
they are all to “ sing the tune.” 

It should be said that the higher musical circles of the 
Established Church in England are rapidly turning 
towards the unisonal Plain Song melodies for congrega- 
tional use and away from the tunes of Stainer, Dykes, 
Smart and the rest of that school. It is largely due to the 
High Church devotion to the antique and the traditional 
in church life, a return to “ Catholic” ideals. 


10. Tuines To Avorp 


a. Ministerial Scolding. Perhaps no habit is so disturb- 
ing to devout minds as that of some ministers who scold 
if the people do not sing quite to their liking. 

Scolding is never in place! If a people are dull and 
unresponsive, it is probably due to the fact that there is 
nothing to animate them, nothing to which to respond. 
Awaken them, inspire them, thrill them, and they will 
sing with the spirit and the understanding. Scold them, 
and perhaps they will make a little more noise, but their 
singing will have less rather than more spiritual value. 

b. Invariable Use of “ Amen” at Close of Hymns. 
There is a habit in some churches, with whom it is by no 
means historic, of singing “Amen” after every hymn, 
whether it calls for such a solemn approval of its senti- 
ment or not. Now the writer does not object to the sing- 
ing of an “Amen” after a hymn. Hymns of worship 
and praise and hymns of petition are fitly closed with. 


210 CONGREGATIONAL SINGING 


“Amen”; but didactic hymns, merely rhymed statements 
of doctrine, whether couched in Scriptural or theological 
language, do not seem to require such an appendix. With 
hortatory hymns, or hymns of brightness and spirit, an 
“Amen” will be a decided anti-climax. Indeed the 
“Amen” with such lyrics is entirely out of place. 

But when we turn to the hymnals of great denomina- 
tions, prepared by men who are supposed to represent the 
highest culture, the keenest intelligence, and the most re- 
fined taste, we are amazed to find them absolutely obliv- 
ious to this proper distinction in the use of “ Amen.” It 
becomes a bit of mechanism, a sort of Thibetan praying 
mill, with which it is vainly hoped to add impressiveness 
and devoutness to the service. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. How much expression is possible in congregational singing? 

. What are its limits? 

. Who is to control expression? 

. Can we standardise the speed in hymn singing? Why not? 

. What general rules may we accept for establishing the tempo 
of any tune? 

6. What two serious faults are there in hymn singing? 

7. How can dragging the tempo be cured? 

8. What objections are there to rapid singing? 

9 

10 


om & & NO 


. What are the usual causes of flatting in hymn singing? 
. How can it be cured? 
11. Is unisonal singing to be encouraged? Why not? 
12. What value has unisonal singing? 
13. Instead of scolding what should a minister or precentor do? 
14. When is the closing “ Amen” proper? 


PART IV 
THE CHURCH CHOIR 


THE PRAYER OF A CHOIR 


While with the heavenly choir we join, 
Thy glory be our whole design, 
Thy glory, not our own. 
Still let us keep our end in view, 
And still the pleasing task pursue, 
To please our God alone. 


The secret pride, the subtle sin, 
Oh, let it never more steal in 
T’offend Thy glorious eyes, 
To desecrate our hallowed strain, 
And make our solemn service vain, 
And mar our sacrifice. 
—From “The True Use of Music,” 
by Charles Wesley. 


XVI 


THE HISTORY AND THE ADVANTAGES OF 
THE CHURCH CHOIR 


Class Room Suggestions: It may be well in connection with this 
chapter to ask the class to hurriedly review Chapters XITI-X XIII 
in “Church Music,” the previous volume in this series. 


Supplementary Reading: Chas. R. Hodge, “ Clergy and Choir,” 
The Young Churchman Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; Washington Glad- 
den, “ Parish Problems,” The Century Co., New York; Waldo S. 
Pratt, “ Musical Ministries,” Fleming H. Revell Co., New York; 
Peter C. Lutkin, “ Music in the Church,” The Young Churchman 
Co., Milwaukee, Wis.; F. G. Edwards, “United Praise,” J. Cur- 
wen’s Sons, London; J. Troutbeck, “Church Choir Training,” 
Novello, Ewer and Co., London; F. W. Wodell, “Choir and 
Chorus Conducting,” Theo. Presser, Philadelphia; John Adcock, 
“The Choir Master,” “Musical Journal” Office, London; J. S. 
Curwen, “ Studies in Worship Music,” First and Second Series, J. 
Curwen’s Sons, London; E. Minshall, “ Organs, Organists and 
Choirs,” J. Curwen’s Sons, London. 


A. THE HISTORY OF THE CHOIR 


1. OrIGIN OF THE CHOIR 


a. Transition from Solo to Choral Singing. As im- 
provisation was probably the first form of expressive sing- 
ing, it must have been done by single voices. The next 
form undoubtedly was mass or congregational singing. 
As culture increased, the limitations of the latter, due to 
lack of range and quality of voice and of adequate train- 
ing, soon suggested a selection of the better voices and 
their development for more elaborate hymns and songs. 
The needs of religious services and festival occasions led 
to the organisation of choruses or choirs. This was and is 
true in an informal way among savage tribes where witch 
doctors or priests and their assistants sing their crude 


213 


214 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


chants. As the scale of civilisation rose, these choirs were 
more fully organised and better trained, and the character 
of the choral organisation and of the songs became a cri- 
terion of a people’s culture. 


2. CuHorrs IN ANCIENT NATIONS 


a. Choirs in Egypt, Assyria and Greece. In Egypt and 
Assyria and Greece, we find in the leading temples great 
choirs whose membership accepted their work as a definite 
profession, In Egypt the choirs were made up of the 
inferior order of priests. Their hymns were elevated and 
noble, being worship of the several gods. In Greece, 
choirs not only assisted in the ceremonies of the temples, 
but were accessories to the theatres, sometimes singing, 
sometimes reciting, always contributing to the develop- 
ment of the drama, being really an integral element in the 
dramatic form. The hymns devoted to Apollo were more 
noble and dignified, while those used in the Bacchic festi- 
vals were sensual and even lascivious. 

b. Choirs in Bible Times. The Bible gives minute de- 
tails regarding the organisation, training, and value of 
Hebrew choral organisations. 

The song of victory over the Egyptians led by Moses 
and the women’s chorus led by Miriam, the elder sister 
of Moses, indicates the existence of no mean degree of 
organisation, training and musical ability. Such an elab- 
orate antiphonal song could not be suddenly and spon- 
taneously improvised out of the raw material of fugitive 
slaves. ‘There must have been previous clear-cut ideals 
of choral song and even of training. 

From the fact that a company of singing and playing 
prophets met Saul the day he was turned “ into another 
man” in preparation for his regal responsibilities, we may 
gather that the school of prophets had adequate musical 


ADVANTAGES OF THE CHOIR 215 


departments to keep up the standard of sacred song as 
well as of sacred instrumental music. ‘That the record 
refers so little to the religious music of the people during 
these centuries by no means proves that it did not exist. 

The elaborate musical service developed by David, the 
harpist and psalm writer, assumes previous provision for 
choral participation. It became the norm of all subse- 
quent temple music, the standard by which all later choral 
organisation was judged. While the people had a voice in 
the service, the leadership was accorded to the choirs of 
Levites. 

Under Solomon the musical service of choirs and musi- 
cal instruments was greatly expanded, as is clear from 
the description of the effect of the music on the day of 
dedication. 

During the following centuries the great choirs of the 
temple were continued; if they lapsed under the wicked 
kings, they were restored after the pattern set by David. 
Jehoshaphat even used the Levitical choirs as an instru- 
ment of war, inspiring his soldiers to overcome his 
enemies. 


3. CHOIRS IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 


a. Choirs in the Early Church and in the Patristic and 
Papal Ages. We get no suggestion of choirs in the New 
Testament church. ‘The disciples were too few and scat- 
tered and their meetings too secret and hidden. 

But as the church increased in numbers, we read of 
formal choirs associated with the central churches. ‘The 
congregational song became unsatisfactory and inadequate 
and the whole musical service presently was turned over 
to minor priests. Only a few short phrases were left to 
the congregation. 

In the great churches of the cities and in the chapels of 


216 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


the monasteries this exclusive dependence on the clerical 
choirs for the music of the public services continued for a 
thousand years and more. In the village churches and in 
private chapels where choirs were not possible, there was 
probably congregational singing. 

b. Choirs Among the Reformers. In spite of the new 
emphasis placed on congregational song by the great Re- 
formers, choirs were still in full and constant use in Ger- 
many and in England. Among the followers of Zwingli 
not even congregational song was permitted. Calvin asso- 
ciated choirs with the practices of Popery and forbade 
their use, which attitude was also taken by his followers 
in Switzerland and Scotland, and by the Puritans of 
England. He did not allow even part singing in the con- 
gregation, as being Romish in character. 

c. Choirs in More Recent Times. While the ban on in- 
strumental music has not everywhere been lifted, in recent 
years one rarely hears any objections raised to the use of 
the choir. There may be occasional opposition to quartets 
or to boy choirs, or to the undue prominence or domina- 
tion of the service by the choir, but none to the idea of a 
segregation of the best singers and their adequate training 
in order to secure greater effectiveness in\the musical part 
of the church service. 


B. THE ADVANTAGES OF THE CHOIR 


1. Tur PrRimMAry ADVANTAGES OF THE CHOIR 


a. It Enriches the Service of the Sanctuary. ‘The lead- 
ing advantage of a choir, the one which alone not only 
justifies but demands its organisation, is that it greatly 
enriches and ennobles the worship of God in His sanctu- 
ary. The congregational song is extremely effective in 
elevating the service of God’s house, but there are many 


ADVANTAGES OF THE CHOIR 217 


delicate and tender sentiments and emotions that it can not 
well express. 

b. It Affords Greater Variety. There is a variety of 
form and effect in the anthem that no hymn can hope to 
supply. It has a wider range of feeling as well as of ex- 
pression. The greater vocal ability and the careful train- 
ing of the choir makes music of a wider and deeper 
expressiveness possible. It reaches heights and depths of 
religious feeling that no hymn with its limited tune can 
follow. Its contribution to the devoutness and spirituality 
of a service can be made profound and commanding. 

c. It Adds a New Emotional Effect. It should also be 
noted that the emotional reaction in listening to impressive 
music sung by others is different from that experienced in 
personal participation in the exercise, 

d. Greater Variety of Application. ‘The emotionally 
religious value of the choir is so varied that it can be used 
effectively either in the devotional half of the service, or 
as an immediate preparation for the inspirational or didac- 
tic half, z. ¢., it can be used just before the sermon, in case 
the text and its corresponding musical expression are ap- 
propriate. Its message may be one of pure worship, or of 
doctrine, or of exhortation, or of appeal. ‘The leaders of 
great evangelistic campaigns make much of the choirs 





*“Tt must be granted that congregational music, with all its 
value has grave limitations. Only very simple musical forms are 
feasible for congregational rendering. Even the noblest of our 
tunes do not begin to exhaust the expressive capacities of sacred 
music, and they are, perforce, arranged only for metrical texts. 
The first lack in public worship that a choir may supply, then, is 
of such anthem or chant settings of metrical and especially of un- 
metrical texts as would be entirely impracticable for the congrega- 
tion as a whole, and yet such as they might properly wish to use 
as a collective utterance if they had the technical ability.”—Waldo 
S. Pratt in “ Parish Problems.” 


218 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


they organise. ‘They use them first as a means of impress- 
ing doctrines important to their work, then as an emo- 
tional appeal to the unsaved. Where the congregation is 
small, the need and value of a choir are only stressed the 
more, since the congregational singing is weaker and less 
effective. 

No small advantage of the chorus choir is found in that 
it gives opportunity for so many ways of conveying truth 
or of stirring emotion: the solo, the duet, the mixed quar- 
tet, the women’s trio or quartet, the men’s quartet or 
chorus. ‘There need be no monotony, if these resources 
are fully exploited. 

The assistance of the choir in the public service adds 
variety and interest, and sustains the attention of the 
people. Its work is so distinctly different from the other 
features of the service that it stimulates interest and by 
its beauty and charm creates an attitude of approbation, 
as well as a sense of pleasure, that pervades all the other 
items of the schedule. 

e. A Help in Congregational Singing. ‘That it furnishes 
a strong support to the singing of the congregation is an- 
other outstanding advantage. Dr. Lutkin does not over- 
state the case when he says in his excellent and suggestive 
book, “ Music in the Church”: “ A choir is not perform- 
ing one of its most important duties if it does not improve 
the hymn singing.” If the tunes have been carefully and 
amply practiced in advance, with due regard to the inter- 
pretation of the hymn, no matter how new they may be, 
the congregation, sure of the choir’s support, will attack 
them with courage and vigour. 

A certain limited amount of expression can also be se- 
cured because the people will follow the lead of the choir 
and of the organ. The choir can also be utilised in vary- 
ing the singing by means of antiphonal effects. 


ADVANTAGES OF THE CHOIR 219 


f. A More General Active Participation. By no means 
the least of the benefits of a volunteer chorus choir is that 
it brings many persons into an active relation with the life 
of the church who would otherwise be of little positive 
service. It is interesting to see young people who were 
barely attached suddenly develop a large interest in all its 
activities upon being invited to join the choir. Immedi- 
ately it is “our” church, “our” preacher, “our” 
Sunday-school, “our” choir. The sense of actual rela- 
tionship and of the responsibility and obligation that go 
with it, is developed. Ina church where the young people 
stand aloof from its activities, the organisation of a volun- 
teer choir, a considerable enlargement of the one that 
exists, or an active effort to institute a special Young 
People’s choir, may correct the evil. 


2. INCIDENTAL ADVANTAGES OF THE CHOIR 


The choir has many incidental advantages of no small 
importance, some of which are often emphasised at the 
expense of its primary purpose. It will be well to recog- 
nise their merely subsidiary relation to the fundamental 
result that is sought. 

a. Developing Loyalty to the Church. As a mere by- 
product it is not particularly deplorable that the choir 
should minister to the social, intellectual, or artistic pride 
of the congregation, in so far as it helps to build up an 
esprit de corps and creates enthusiasm over the work of 
the church. But it is a lamentable situation when this 
becomes the governing motive. Every church should have 
the very best music for its services that its means and 
resources will allow, and it is entirely just and discrimi- 
nating to judge its culture and enterprise by its music. 
But this is a matter not of pride, but of devotion and con- 
secration to God; not a competition of purses and of 


220 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


artistic discrimination, but a joyous delight in giving to 
God the very best and noblest of which one is capable, 
without regard to the opinion of the community. 

b. A Means of Mustcal Culture. Another excellent by- 
product of the choir is the musical culture of its members. 
It is a generous musical education to be a member of some 
church choirs; the methods used, the spirit of musical 
thoroughness and refined taste, the class of music ren- 
dered, the leader’s accurate and inspiring instruction, 
whether direct or indirect, make such an experience of 
greater value than the time and effort sacrificed could 
claim. 

c. Developing Musical Taste in the Congregation. An- 
other by-product not to be despised is the opportunity of 
elevating the musical tastes and capacities of the congre- 
gation. This is one of the elements of the general aim of 
the church; to broaden the minds, deepen the sensibilities 
and elevate the characters of its people. But this desir- 
able result, after all, is merely incidental to the larger 
religious effects to be secured. 

d. Attracting a Congregation. Incidentally, the choir 
may be made a means of attracting people to the church 
service. Where a community is susceptible to attractive 
music, the choir may do good service in this way. Recog- 
nised as a minor result in the use of the choir, it is en- 
tirely proper to give it some consideration. But when, as 
too frequently occurs, this is made the chief object of the 
choir’s work, when singers are secured and music selected 
with this one object in view, only harm can result. Unre- 
ligious soloists are engaged, concert selections of music are 
made, the whole musical service is secularised and de- 
graded to the plane of a mere concert where the spirit of 
religious devotion is submerged and lost. ‘There are 
churches where a part of the audience retires after the 


ADVANTAGES OF THE CHOIR 221 


music is over; there are others, where the attendance 
drops off more than one half, if it is known that the choir 
will not sing. In such cases, the choir actually becomes a 
religious detriment. 

e. Stimulating the Preacher and His People. The sing- 
ers of the choir ought to be serviceable in tuning up the 
preacher nervously and emotionally for his address to the 
people. This will be the more likely to occur if the order 
of service has been carefully planned with a view to cumu- 
lative nervous and mental excitation. An added result 
of equal advantage is the tuning up of the hearers to 
respond to the message. The singing of the choir should 
be so planned and rendered that these effects will be 
secured. 

f. Incidental Help in the Service. If under proper 
control, the choir can do much to give weight and body to 
the responsive readings and other congregational features, 
such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. 

g. A Strong Organised Force in the Church. A good 
aggressive choir, thoroughly sympathetic with the aims 
and plans of the pastor, will be a great force in his hands 
if he is at all efficient. It is a well organised bloc of pre- 
sumably intelligent, efficient and influential people whose 
enthusiastic backing of any church enterprise will assure 
its success. They have social as well as musical resources 
no pastor can afford to ignore. In many churches if the 
pastor wins the choir, he wins the battle, and the more a 
choir is utilised, the more valuable a helper it becomes. 


3. THE Misusk oF THE CHOIR 
a. How a Choir is Misused. The fact that the choir is 
subject to abuse and has been seriously detrimental to the 
religious and spiritual life of some congregations is no 
reason why it should not be used within proper limits. It 


222 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


is like fire, a good servant, but a poor master. If its de 
velopment is based on pride, its governing motive will 
infect the whole church life. A choir, self-absorbed in 
its own work, with only artistic ideals to consider, will 
soon turn the most spiritual church into a mere religious 
club. 

Artistic choirs often so absorb the whole musical serv- 
ice, or at least set so high a standard, that any other seems 
unworthy beside that which they furnish. In such cases 
congregational singing becomes a thing of the past. 

b. The True Objective of the Chow. It should be 
stressed again that the value of a choir depends entirely 
on its emotionally religious and spiritual effectiveness. 
This is determined by the spirit and religious devotion of 
its leaders, by the selection of distinctively religious texts 
with music that properly expresses them, by the devout- 
ness and sincerity of the singers, and by the efficient and 
psychologically wise use that is made of it. 

Let us sum up the whole matter in a few words: the 
fundamental purpose of the choir is spiritual inspiration 
and edification. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. How soon was choral singing probably introduced ? 

. How were choirs used in Assyria, Egypt and Greece? 
. Were choirs used in Bible times? 

Detail use of choirs in the Christian church. 

. What are the fundamental advantages of the choir? 
. State its incidental advantages. 

. How may the choir be abused? 

. What is the true objective of choirs? 


ONAMBRWH HE 


XVII 
THE FORM OF THE CHOIR 


Class Room Suggestions: Draw out the experience and observa- 
tions of the class on this subject. 


The form of the choir is an important consideration. It 
depends not only upon the resources at hand, but also 
upon the accepted traditions that govern the church life 
and upon the ends the choir is to serve. 


1. THE Various Kinps oF Cuorrs 


The forms in general are: 

a. The Quartet Choir for Mixed Voices, for Men’s 
Voices, and for Women’s Voices. 

b. The Chorus Choir for Mixed Voices, and its sub- 
sidiary forms for Men’s Voices and Women’s Voices, 

c. The Boy Choir in which boys with unchanged voices 
take the place of the women. 

d. The Children’s Choir with unchanged voices of 
children. 

e. The Tabernacle Choir with more or less unorganised 
voices, chiefly used as a support to congregational singing 
in evangelistic services or campaigns. 


2. THE Quarret CHOIR 


For several generations the quartet choir has reigned 
supreme in most of our larger city churches, and still 
exists in many of them. There must be reasons for this 
persistence in the face of the general musical consensus 
that it is not the ideal form. 


223 


224: THE CHURCH CHOIR 


a. Its Advantages. It is easily and permanently or- 
ganised. A canvass of the leading vocalists of the 
community, a selection from those available, a test of 
those chosen for blending and team work, and the thing 
is done, and will call for little more attention from pastor 
or officiary. 

The quartet is dependable for attendance, as members 
cannot afford to lose their per-diem; it is also dependable 
for skill, so there is no danger of a breakdown or fiasco. 

The solo singers making up the quartet can render 
music of an elaborate and difficult order, giving pleasure 
to connoisseurs in music. 

There can be a great variety of solos and duets ren- 
dered in an artistic and impressive manner. 

The quartet is particularly well fitted to sing religious 
music expressing deep, quiet feeling. 

b. Its Disadvantages. But there is another side to the 
shield. The disadvantages are even more notable than its 
advantages.? 

It is a sort of confession of defeat: that the minister is 
unable to organise properly the musical forces of his 
church and to work them effectively and steadily. 

Its limitations of sonority are so marked that the higher 
choral possibilities are not open to it. 

The quartet choir is very much more apt to be ruled by 
purely artistic and selfish considerations. The solo work 


*“The peculiarly American custom of a quartet which is ex- 
pected to perform all the music of the church is fortunately 
passing away. It grew up in a period of low musical cultivation 
among the people, and of comparative heedlessness to the just 
management of public worship. All its advantages, without its 
limitations and dangers, may be secured through a chorus con- 
taining two or more solo singers.”—Waldo S. Pratt in “ Parish 
Problems.” 


THE FORM OF THE CHOIR 225 


becomes a matter of display. The music sung is chosen 
for other reasons than its religious value. 

Unless the quartet has unique emotional power of a con- 
tagious kind, its singing is certain to provoke the critical 
rather than the devotional attitude of mind, and the serv- 
ice degenerates into a concert. 

The singers are hired, and, while this gives absolute 
regularity to their attendance, it is likely to inject an ele- 
ment of commercialism and mechanicalism that is fatal to 
spiritual effectiveness. 

The selection of music is limited to that adapted to the 
solo voice. Large choral effects are impossible to it. 

The texts are apt to be sentimental rather than strong 
and worshipful, because they lend themselves better to 
music for the dramatic or passionate solo voice. 

It is likely to be beyond the power of appreciation of the 
average congregation. 

The chief objection is its limited power over the emo- 
tions of a congregation. It lacks impressiveness and 
weight.* For that reason it cannot render effectively the 
most worshipful form of religious music. 

Perhaps the least important objection is that it has no 
background of churchly tradition. 

c. Quartet Choir Better Than None. Of course, it is 
usually better to have a quartet choir than none at all, if 





?“True church music is choral music; it calls for large volumes 
and broad effects, and you can no more fitly render it with a 
quartet than you can reproduce Niagara with four buckets of 
water. A hymn tune like “ Duke Street,” or “ Pleyel’s Hymn,” or 
“St. Ann’s,” and anthems like “He Watching Over Israel,” from 
“Elijah,” or “The Lord is Good,” from “ Eli,” when sung by a 
quartet, are quite too thin. And, since quartets cannot sing 
music of this kind, they are likely to resort to brilliant and showy 
pieces, in which their execution can be best displayed.”—Wash- 
ington Gladden in “ Parish Problems.” 


226 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


the minister can control their work, and can assure him- 
self that it will serve spiritual purposes and not simply 
appeal to the “ lust of the ear and the pride of life ” in his 
congregation. But in any case it should be considered a 
temporary makeshift until the latent talents of the con- 
gregation can be discovered and trained. 

d. Selection of Quartet Choir. If a quartet choir is an 
unavoidable necessity, care should be taken in the selection 
of the singers. 

Singers should be religious. In a chorus a few unre- 
ligious people are likely to have little influence; but with 
the solo singing expected of the members of the quartet, 
in the interest of sincerity, they ought all to be unfeignedly 
religious persons. 

Three types of quartets. Four good solo singers do not 
necessarily make a good quartet. The timbre of their in- 
dividual voices may be so strikingly different as to make 
the desirable blending impossible. A single voice of great 
individuality of colour will ruin the perfect union of the 
voices. Better sacrifice unusual range, or striking solo 
ability, than this quality of harmonious blending. F. W. 
Wodell, in his very excellent and helpful “Choir and 
Chorus Conducting,” suggests that “It is less difficult and 
expensive to form a quartet choir on the basis of a bari- 
tone voice for the bass part. This would naturally mean 
the association with such a bass of a mezzo-contralto, a 
lyric tenor and a high soprano, Much of the modern 
music for quartet choirs is written for all the voices at 
high pitches, presumably for the sake of brilliancy, and 
such a quartet as has just been mentioned is needed to do 
it full justice.” Another type of quartet suggested by Mr. 
Wodell consists of “a full mezzo, or dramatic soprano, a 
contralto, a robust tenor, and a full low bass.” 

A Third Combination. In speaking of the blending of 


THE FORM OF THE CHOIR 227 


the several voices of the quartet, Mr. Wodell remarks that 
" the over brilliant tone of a given soprano may be envel- 
oped and satisfactorily modified when combined with a 
deep, velvety contralto, each voice contributing something 
of value, which the other, taken alone, may lack. So it 
may be with the tenor and the bass, or baritone, and like- 
wise with the four in combination. It is well, in making 
up the quartet, to consider particularly the expressiveness 
of the tone quality of the voices, and whether the vocalists 
sing with that sincerity and fervour which touch the 
heart.” 


3, THE Octet or DousLe Quartet 


The double quartet or octet is a great improvement over 
the quartet. Its range of repertoire is much wider, as it is 
capable of true choral effects. It is a better support to the 
singing of the congregation. There is greater variety of 
solo talent. There is possible a men’s and a women’s 
quartet. Usually the average sonority in a paid octet is 
greater than of a mixed volunteer chorus of twelve or 
more voices. The ideal is to have a high and a mezzo 
' soprano, two contraltos, one of whom should be low, a 
lyric and a robust tenor, a baritone and a bass. 


4. MEN’s CHorrR 


Occasionally you find a men’s choir doing good serv- 
ice ina church. There is a strength, a virility, in such a 
choir that is very attractive and inspiring, 

a, Difficulty in Securing Proper Voices. One difficulty 
is that really good voices for men’s choirs are compara- 
tively rare. Few voices are found in most American com- 
munities capable of taking the first tenor in a musical, 
pleasing way. Our tenors are almost all baritones, and 
when they try to reach the high notes they shriek; when 


228 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


they are compelled to sing a number of high notes in suc- 
cession they flat. Under such a strain, expression is out 
of the question. The baritones who sing the inner parts 
are often afflicted with a poor ear and do not sing in 
accurate pitch and so spoil the harmony. Second basses 
are nearly as scarce as first tenors. 

b. Their Value. A really good men’s quartet or chorus 
is a great treasure to a church, as it is a musical resource 
that can be applied in many and varied ways, adding in- 
terest to the church service, proving an attraction in evan- 
gelistic services, supplying variety to song services and 
church concerts, and generally advancing the aggressive 
efficiency of the church to which they belong. 

c. Limitations of Men’s Choirs. But a men’s choir is a 
relish, a novelty, a special feature, not a complete solution 
of the choir problem. The unusual character of the com- 
bination of voices attracts too much interest and attention, 
and the message they sing is lost from sight. There are 
whole provinces of religious emotions they have not suf- 
ficient variety and pliability of style to express. There 
are few anthems composed for them and they usually con- 
fine themselves to Gospel songs. The effects have so 
narrow a range that they become monotonous. A men’s 
quartet makes an admirable adjunct to a church choir, 
but will not be found an adequate permanent substitute 
for it. 


5. WoMEN’s CHOIR 


In some churches there is such a scarcity of men’s voices 
that a choir of women’s voices is the only possibility. 

a. Their Advantages. A good chorus of the pure voices 
of women is very delightful and impressive. ‘There is an 
etherial clarity, a vibrant yet serene feeling in such music 
that is heavenly. 


THE FORM OF THE CHOIR 229 


b. Difficulty in Getting Proper Voices. 'The same diffi- 
culty in finding proper voices is evident here as well as in 
men’s choirs. Our sopranos and altos are both chiefly 
mezzo-sopranos. High, pure sopranos and low, strong 
altos are rare voices. 

c. Thew Limitations, But their limitation of range of 
expression is even more pronounced than in a men’s choir. 


6. Tue Boy Cuore 


Aside from the liturgical churches, the boy choir is not 
extensively used. When well trained, these young voices 
often have a delightful freshness and serene, passionless 
gladness which fit them for the expression of a limited 
range of joyful religious feeling. 

a. Difficult to Manage. It is very difficult to keep up a 
boy choir in an efficient, practicable way. Discipline must 
be rigidly emphasised, or there will be careless and 
thoughtless practice, irregularity of attendance, and flip- 
pancy in public work. The payment of a small weekly 
fee, and a system of fines, will serve as a basis for such 
discipline and somewhat obviate the difficulty; but even 
then, unless there is a leader who delights in the work and 
is willing to devote his leisure time to winning and holding 
the loyalty and good-will of his charges by all sorts of 
expressions of good comradeship, there is no permanency. 
Boy choir leaders are born, not made! 

b. Needs Long Training. A boy choir calls for long, 
continual training in voice, in note reading and in expres- 
sion. A perfunctory rehearsal once a week, such as 
average choirs hold, will get no results. Indeed months 
of training, two or three hours a week, are needed before 
it can do even reasonably adequate service. "The music 
reading taught in the public schools is offset by the shrill, 
unmusical forcing of the chest tones that is common there. 


230 ° THE CHURCH CHOIR 


In most cases the voices of the boys need to be entirely 
rebuilt. 

c. Occasionally Useful. However, as a subordinate 
musical organisation to be used occasionally on fitting 
occasions, the boy choir is to be encouraged, both for the 
sake of the church and for that of the boys. The former 
will be all the more appealing to its miscellaneous, and 
even regular attendants, and the latter will have the 
value of the training received, of the close connection 
with the church, and of the sense of usefulness in its 
services. 


7. THE CHorus CHOIR 


We have found that the quartet choir, the boy choir, the 
men’s choir, and the women’s choir all have their value, 
but that they are too limited in their range of expres- 
sion to permanently serve all the musical needs of any 
congregation. Each is valuable in its place, but any one 
alone is insufficient. 

The ideal choir, after all, is the chorus choir made up 
of the best voices in the congregation with a quartet choir 
as a nucleus.‘ Twenty voices of moderate range and 


°“* A poor boy choir is the worst kind of a choir. A good one, 
outside of the larger towns and cities, is, under ordinary circum- 
stances, an impossibility.”—Rev, Frank Landon in “The Evolu- 
tion of Church Music.” 


*“ A large choir combines the magnetism and even the intensi- 
fication of personality with the effectiveness of personal efface- 
ment. The personal element pervades, but does not intrude. In 
the concentration of many voices is that surcharged force which 
is only found where one thought and one sentiment sways a multi- 
tude—a dynamic energy which sweeps the congregation into the 
same tide of feeling.””—H. E. Parkhurst in “The Musical 
Observer.” 


THE FORM’‘OF THE CHOIR 231 


melodiousness can do more to lift the spirit of the wor- 
shipper than the best trained quartet in the land. 

a. A Section of the Congregation. In the first place the 
chorus choir is a part of the congregation. It is in per- 
sonal relation to the life of the church in all its aspects 
and phases. It becomes representative, therefore, in a 
sense that no quartet choir can possibly be. 

b. Impresswe and Effective. It is also much more im- 
pressive and effective than the choir of four solo voices.5 
The large mass of voices renders possible the singing of 
majestic music which is beyond the limitations of the 
quartet choir. 

c. Variety of Music. While a quartet choir is limited 
in the amount of music it finds available, a properly organ- 
ised and trained chorus choir, with its full complement of 
solo voices, has all sacred music at its command. Full 
choral numbers, quartets, solos, duets, men’s and women’s 
choruses or quartets all are within its scope. Its range is 
limited only by its ability and training, in which limitations 
the quartet choir shares. 

d. Means of Culture. In developing the chorus choir, 
the pastor can have a very comfortable sense of adding 
to the strength and culture and effectiveness of his own 
people. It will also bring many more persons into a more 
direct relation with the church life and so add to their 
interest and usefulness in other aspects of church work. 

e. Socsal Value. It offers the pastor, moreover, another 


°“ Without contradiction, the most appropriate and impressive 
form of musical worship is the choral service of a large choir. 
Majestic and solemn harmonies, consonant with the atmosphere 
of the day and of the surroundings, can be adequately rendered 
only by the volume of numerous voices. Volume of tone is not 
synonymous with loudness.”—H. E. Parkhurst in “The Musical 
Observer.” 


232 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


opportunity for the development of the social life among 
his people, for these singers will come from different ele- 
ments, coteries, and strata and so form another bond of 
good-will and fellowship which are only too sorely needed 
in many of our congregations. 

f. Difficulties Connected With Chorus Choirs. It is 
true that the volunteer choir is a difficult proposition. 
Taken from all classes of society and of intellectual life, 
there are possibilities of friction that must be taken into 
account. Musical people are naturally sensitive people. 
They are, therefore, sometimes difficult to handle, and the 
choir often is a thorn in the side of the pastor. The 
uncertainty of attendance at any given service is often a 
source of great anxiety and sometimes of painful mortifi- 
cation to the minister. But with all the shortcomings and 
difficulties attending the volunteer chorus choir, it still 
remains the ideal form of the choir, with the largest possi- 
bilities, with the best results. 


8. SUBSTITUTES FOR THE REGULAR CHOIR 


But the special music of the church need not be con- 
fined to this chorus choir. Variety demands an occasional 
change which can best be secured by dropping out the 
regular choir for a service and using some substitute for it. 

a. Adjunct Choirs. What that substitute shall be must 
depend on the local situation. An adjunct choir or choirs 
will be entirely feasible. This may consist of children, 
either boys or girls, or both, or of young people who are 
either not sufficiently developed to sing regularly or who 
do not care to sacrifice the necessary time. There may be 
one choir consisting entirely of small children, another of 
half-grown boys, and another of young people. There 
may even be such a choir of grown persons who are not 
in a position to sing regularly. 


THE FORM OF THE CHOIR 233 


Depending on the character of the material such an or- 
ganisation may be called the Adjunct Choir, or the Choir 
Club, or the Junior Choir, or the Children’s Choir, as the 
case may be. Social organisation will be even more advis- | 
able than in the case of the regular choir, as otherwise 
there will be no regular work to keep the organisation in 
motion. 

b. Children’s Choir. Of course, there must be meet- 
ings for instruction and practice under the general, if not 
the immediate, direction of the choir leader. The music 
must depend on the general ability of the organisation, but 
must be adapted to actual use in the church service. Sev- 
eral church music publishers issue two, three and four 
part music for these subsidiary choirs. 

Vocal culture should be a notable part of the training 
of the younger organisations. While mere note reading 
may be left to the public schools in most communities, it 
will be frequently necessary to correct the shrill forcing of 
the chest tone and to develop the head tone in quality, 
strength and range. This should be done under more or 
less expert supervision, else voices may be permanently 
ruined. ‘There should also be inculcated the idea of ex- 
pression, varying both speed and force and even quality 
of tone. 

Such supplementary resources may be used in connec- 
tion with the regular choir as an extra relish, so to speak, 
or in place of it from time to time, giving the regular 
singers a little vacation. 

c. Tabernacle Choir. If a regular, organised choir of 
any kind is out of the question, then have a few of the 
better singers sit together in a corner if there is no choir 
loft, and have them lead the congregational singing. They 
may sing the verse occasionally while the congregation 
joins in the chorus. They may even be asked to sing some 


234 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


simple Gospel song alone. In congregations where such a 
“scrub ” choir alone is feasible, it may be very useful. 

d. The Sunday-school Choir. Even in the Sunday- 
school a choir will have its numerous advantages. It will 
add interest to its sessions, if used, say, every second 
Sunday on the average, but not too rigidly regularly. If 
the school is graded it can sing in the Adult and Inter- 
mediate sections. It can even be used in the children’s 
part of the morning service, or in the evening service as a 
special feature. It will strengthen the congregational 
singing. The girls and boys will be in training for the 
older choirs and eventually for the regular church choir. 
It will give them a sense of actual relationship with the 
church, that will tide them over the ’teen age. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. Upon what must the choice of form of choir depend? 
. What are the usual forms of church choirs? 

. What are the advantages of the quartet choir? 

. State its disadvantages. 

. How should a quartet choir be selected? 

. What three types of quartet choirs exist? 

. What are the advantages of an octet or double quartet? 
. State the difficulties met in men’s choirs. 

. What values do they demonstrate? 

10. State advantages and disadvantages of women’s choirs. 
11. What are the limitations of effect of the boy choir? 
12. State the difficulties met with it. 

13. What is the ideal form of church choir? 

14. What are the advantages of the chorus choir? 

15. What substitutes may be found for the regular choir? 


OANA MNAWH HE 


XVIII 
ORGANISING THE CHOIR 


Given an average church without a choir, what can be 
done to add so important a feature to its resources? 


1. Tue Pastor’s Duty 


It is the business of the pastor to initiate the effort. He 
is the natural leader in all church enterprises, particularly 
in one that affects the service over which he presides. He 
is the fountain head of plans and policies in the work of 
the church. No one else presumably so well knows its 
value, or is so directly the beneficiary of its successful 
work. 

a. He Knows the Situation Best. If the minister is a 
true pastor, it is not likely that any one else knows the 
latent possibilities as does he. He knows the people who 
have voices and training enough to join such an organisa- 
tion. It is presumable that the far-sightedness, steady 
persistence and patience needful for success will be found 
in him, rather than in some lay member with secular in- 
terests monopolising his energy and time. Moreover, if 
the pastor is the moving spirit in the organisation of the 
choir he can shape its ideals, form its spirit, establish 
its plans and methods, firmly but graciously control its 
activities and make it practically useful after it is once 
in action. 

b. He Can Authoritatively Consult with Church Lead- 
ers. The pastor should secure the co-operation of every 
helpful person in the congregation in the proposed organ- 


235 


236 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


isation, but should never allow anyone else to displace him 
at the helm. Of course, this assumes that the pastor has 
enough knowledge and training to stand back of the move- 
ment and direct its course. If he does not, he should first 
make a thorough study of choir work, in books, and by 
interviewing competent people who have made a success 
of the work elsewhere. If he gets a grasp on the general 
principles involved, he can defer in matters of musical 
detail to his more or less competent subordinates. Inci- 
dentally this deference will create interest and loyalty in 
the people whose co-operation is essential. 


2. PERSONNEL OF THE CHOIR 


Where beggars cannot be choosers, there is not much 
opportunity for applying a high standard in admitting 
singers into a choir. But where vocal material is plenti- 
ful, more care should be taken in admitting new members 
into the choir. | 

a. Personal Tests. The voice is the first consideration: 
what is its quality of tone, what its range? Are the ap- 
plicants afflicted with tremolo, making the blending of 
their voices with the rest impossible? Do they sing flat 
or sharp? Have their voices a striking individuality 
that would make them stand out from the rest? Are 
they flexible and varied in tone colour? Can the sing- 
ers read notes fluently and correctly? Does a composi- 
tion with numerous accidentals affright them? Have 
they a good sense of rhythm? Are they phlegmatic and 
dull, or emotionally susceptible to the deeper meanings 
of music? 

Are they able to do team work, or are they full of per- 
sonal notions that forbid their easy collaboration with 
others? Have they kindly dispositions, are they compan- 
ionable and cheery? All these are important consider- 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 237 


ations, not one of which it is wise to overlook.1 Accord- 
ing to Rev. Dr. C. B. McAfee, the five essentials of a good 
choir singer are: 

1. That he can sing, not perfectly, but actually. 

2, That he can read music whether by note or by 
location. 

3. That he be faithful; that he can be depended upon in 
regularity of attendance, and in the work that may be 
assigned him. 

4. That he have the spirit of service, ready to do any- 
thing to help the work of the choir or of the church. 

5. That he have the spirit of worship, that he enter into 
the actual religious attitude for which the choir stands. 

Dr. Orlando A. Mansfield, known in America, as well 
as in Great Britain, referring to the selection of choir 
members, wisely says: “ One important point concerning 
choir admittance is that the best members are not always 
those possessing the best natural voices. Choristers se- 
lected from the homes of God-fearing people, and chosen 
with an eye to their character and good general education, 
as well as to their musical ability, are far more likely to 
form regular and efficient members than those chosen for 
purely vocal reasons. Whete character is deficient, relia- 
bility is sure to be wanting.” 

b. Use of Older Singers. While volunteer choirs are 
generally made up of young people, there is no reason why 


*A good soloist does not always make a good choir singer. It 
is not a matter of voice, but of adaptation. The soloist is accus- 
tomed to autocratically deciding tempo, force and other expres- 
sion. He is likely to indulge in a good deal of ad libitum in his 
singing, in tremolo, perhaps even portamento, or sliding of the 
voice. None of these are permissible in chorus work. A sensible 
vocalist will soon get into rank and file and be very valuable in 
many ways. But soloists are not all sensible! 


238 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


older singers should not be largely represented. As Prof. 
von Berge says in an article in “The Choir Leader”: “ It 
seems to have become customary for older people to retire 
from choir work, and to leave the field entirely to the 
younger people. Why should that be? That is surely to 
be deplored, for the choirs are thereby losing many most 
valuable voices. People do not lose their singing voices 
when they get married. Why should they lose their 
interest? 

“The presence of older people is also for other reasons 
very desirable. The young people are then not quite so 
apt to rock the boat when older people are also in it. It 
may also be said that the older people are more serious- 
minded, have had a wider range of soul experience, and 
are a little more inclined to respond to spiritual impulses 
and ideals.” 

c. Official Election. The suggestion has been made that 
the choir should be elected by the official body of the 
church, just as other workers are. It would give them 
official recognition, develop their sense of responsibility, 
and add to the dignity of their work. ‘The same people 
who now select them could act as a nominating committee 
and so assure intelligent selection. ‘This could be done 
annually ; it will make the elimination of persons socially 
or vocally undesirable very easy without making the choir 
director personally responsible. In some churches the 
choir is given a careful examination annually before 
competent outsiders, so avoiding charges of personal 
prejudice. 

d. Choirs Should Be As Large As Possible. Rev. Prof. 
Herm. von Berge, in the “ Baptist Herald,” urges that 
volunteer choirs should be as large as possible: “If in- 
spirational values are sought, then give us the large vol- 
unteer choir... . The larger the choir, the larger the 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 239 


number of talents that can find opportunity for service.” 
The greater sonority of a large choir is most impressive. 
There is a greater psychic value in it as well. The less 
desirable voice that would be offensive in a small choir is 
submerged in the larger choir, but adds to its volume of 
sound and richness of tone. 

e. Employ Solo Quartet. In order to secure the best 
results and to assure some degree of permanence it may 
be well to employ a quartet for the nucleus of the pro- 
posed choir. It will supply the needed solo talent and 
lead the several parts in a confident way. A higher grade 
of volunteer singers will be attracted. What shall be paid 
to the members of the quartet must depend on the local 
musical situation, on the value of the individual singers, 
and on the financial resources of the church. 

While no money will be expected by the volunteer sing- 
ers, it should be the minister’s business to see that in 
musical training, in social pleasure, and in outspoken ap- 
preciation of the choir, as well as in satisfaction in the 
success of its work, the rank and file shall be repaid for 
their sacrifice of time and effort. 

f. Sacrifice and Rewards of Choir Singers. ‘The cost to 
the singers of keeping up a choir is realised by very few 
of their hearers. Not only the sacrifice of an evening a 
week, but the inevitable attendance upon both services on 
Sunday, no matter what the weather or the attractions 
elsewhere, is a handicap to the free disposal of their time. 
The rehearsal is hard work; the Sunday singing is a 
strain. The congregation rests on Sunday, the minister 
on Monday, but the musical helpers add a day of strain 
to their six days of work. A small minority get a small 
fee, but the great majority are contributing their money 
as well as their expensively trained abilities to the musical 
department of the church. 


240 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


But the sacrificing singer has his recompense. He has 
the strange joy in mere singing. He is one of a congenial 
coterie of people whose society is delightful. He has the 
deep satisfaction of serving his church and his community. 
Many, though not all, have the supreme joy of coming 
into the very presence of God in adoration and praise as 
the representatives of the general congregation. 

g. Assign Singers to Their Proper Parts. Care should 
be taken to assign singers to the part for which their 
voices are best fitted. The preference of the singer can- 
not always be trusted. A baritone often has an ambition 
to sing tenor and an alto to sing soprano. Note if the 
faces of doubtful singers show strain as they try to sing 
high notes. If they do, reassign them, for their voices 
will suffer in their effort to sing parts for which nature 
has not prepared them. 


3. PREPARE CONGREGATION FOR CHOIR 


It may be necessary to arouse in the congregation a 
sense of need of a choir. If the pastor in building up 
congregational singing has quickened the conscience of 
the congregation in regard to the duty of praise, the next 
step in developing a desire for a more elaborate form of 
praise will be natural and easy. Much can be done in 
private by discussing the idea, not only with the evidently 
musically inclined members, but with all classes. Choirs 
from other churches of about the same grade of musical 
culture may be invited. The congregation must be pre- 
pared for the choir, as well as the choir for the congrega- 
tion. This is as true devotionally as it is financially. A 
mass desire for a choir will obviate many difficulties and 
prevent a feeling in the church at large that the project is 
simply a personal notion of a coterie of musical persons. 
Once a general interest is privately awakened, a sermon 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 241 


on the duty of choral praise, as clearly set forth in the 
Psalms, will crystallise the more or less vague sentiment 
privately created and lead to the actual effort to organise 
the musical forces of the church. 


4. PRELIMINARY ORGANISATION 


The preliminary psychological preparation having been 
slowly and not too obtrusively made, in many churches the 
singers can be selected and an organisation formed. ‘This 
should be done with great care. A private invitation to 
the best singers to meet at the pastor’s home for a discus- 
sion of the proposed choir will make a good beginning.” 
The more nearly the four parts are balanced in these 
musical guests, and the more genially the social spirit is 
developed, the sooner actual work can begin. Of course, 
the persons closely associated with the church life, who 
are recognised as singers, will all be invited to this pre- 
liminary meeting. Additional names can be suggested by 
those present. Probably a choir can be fully constituted 
in this meeting, those present and those suggested being 
alike recognised as charter members who are to partici- 
pate in a later formal organisation.2 At the very be- 


*There was an excellent choir at the famous Union Chapel, 
Islington, London. When Dr. Allon was asked why membership 
in it was so sought after, he replied, “ When the choir was first 
formed, I used my influence to induce ladies of good social posi- 
tion in the church to join it. We very soon killed all class feeling 
and now any member of the congregation would, so far, feel it a 
privilege to join the choir. As a rule, if I am not taking part in 
the service, I sit with the choir.”—J, S. Curwen, “Studies in 
Worship Music.” 

*“ With every form of choir there are difficulties to be sur- 
mounted. In the first selection it is imperative that as Many as 
possible of the singers shall come from the congregation itself, 
In any case, the singers should be made to feel that the choir is 


242 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


ginning there should be inculcated and impressed the 
following traits: (1) Reverence; (2) The Spirit of 
Service; (3) Co-operation with the Pastor; (4) Sym- 
pathy with the Congregation; (5) Ambition to Grow 
and Excel. 


5. TRAIN THE CHotR BEFORE USING 


The temptation will be felt to have the newly organised 
choir participate in the public service at once, Better not. 
There should be a number of rehearsals for training in 
quality and in blending of tone, in rhythmical team work, 
and in clearness of enunciation, as well as in learning suf- 
ficient anthems well to start the choral service auspi- 
ciously. These preliminary meetings may well be rather 
informal, leading to the formation of the choir loyalty so 
valuable in the work. The training of the choir in rising 
and sitting down can also have made them so automatic as 
to avoid the helpless awkwardness that so many choirs 
display. Most important of all, the religious attitude in 
the singers should be developed so that from the very first, 
their spirit will be devout and spiritual. 

The public appearance of the new choir should not be 
hurried. Rouse the ambition to do good work and to sur- 
prise the congregation with the excellence of their singing. 
An occasional reference from the pulpit to the coming en- 
richment of the service will prepare the way for the 


but a specialised division of the congregation. Their responsi- 
bility as controlling agents in the worship should be deeply felt 
by them. Whether they are paid for their services or not, they 
should count attendance at rehearsals and strict attention to the 
leader or organist a religious duty. They should endeavour to 
sink personal ambitions and desires, and to devote themselves with 
singleness of heart to the attainment of the solemn devotional pur- 
poses of a choir.”—Waldo S. Pratt in “ Parish Problems.” 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 243 


appearance of the choir in a service that will provide it 
with an opportunity for a formal and auspicious début. 


6. CREATING MATERIAL FOR THE CHOIR 


In many churches, however, the problem is not so easily 
and quickly solved. The persons capable of singing in a 
choir are not in evidence. The choir must be created from 
the ground up. The material is there without much doubt, 
but it needs to be discovered and trained. 

a. Methods. The pastor should definitely decide to 
build up a choir, even if it takes many months to gather 
and train its members. He should quietly canvass the 
singers among his people, young and old, and ascertain 
the parts they can probably be trained to sing. In almost 
every church there are singers who need stimulus from 
the pastor to develop and train their voices. Some could 
well afford the cost of good vocal instruction, if once there 
seemed any tangible purpose in undertaking it. Inter- 
views with the parents of a few young girls and with 
several young men, suggesting that a course of competent 
instruction would work wonders, would in many cases 
lead to a vocal development that would be a great inspir- 
ation to the young people and a help to the choir and the 
church as well. 

As he discovers talents, he can put it to immediate use. 
He will make various combinations of them for special 
numbers. The children will be called in at one time; the 
Young People’s Society will be urged to supply music at 
another time. Special occasions will be an excuse for 
drafting the older young people. Here and there and 
yonder there will be excuses made for getting all his sing- 
ers—* scrubs ” though they be—into some sort of active 
musical service. The result will often be rather discour- 
aging, but there will be few among his people to be seri- 


24:4 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


ously offended, for if the singers are poor vocally, the 
people who listen will likely be even less capable of criti- 
cising. It will all be of a piece. 

b. Incidental Results. But the pastor will be getting 
several excellent results. The singers will be interested in 
the church work, all sections of the congregation will have 
been brought in line, not only the young people, but the 
too often neglected elderly people; the services will be 
more vital and appealing to the people, because of the 
added variety ; the people will be prepared for the regular 
work of the choir; the singers will incidentally get consid- 
erable preparatory training; the idea of a regular choir 
will seem more and more desirable, and also more of a 
possibility ; there may even be a demand for a musical 
training class in sight reading and choral singing. From 
the people of all ages thus trained, it will be easy presently 
to organise a choir that can do good service. 

c. Chow Should Include All Vocal Talent. As far as 
possible the chorus choir should ordinarily contain all the 
accessible vocal talent in the congregation. ‘There are 
many voices that have no fitness for solo work, which, 
supported by stronger voices, add not only body but rich- 
ness to the tone of the chorus. The “ off-colour ” voices 
occasionally add a brilliant value to the tone of the whole 
chorus that is often effective and impressive. ‘There is 
frequently a fastidiousness of ear in the choice of singers 
that is quite unfortunate, as it shuts out from active ser- 
vice persons who need the help such an opportunity to help 
would afford. Besides, some of these “ugly ducklings ” 
have a very strange way of turning out to be “swans” 
under the educational advantages work in the choir 
affords. 

d, Undesirable Singers. What to do with singers in a 
choir who are undesirable because of their dispositions, or 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 245 


their voices, is sometimes a difficult problem. If they 
cause trouble in the choir by their unrestrained temper or 
speech, they should be eliminated in as quiet and unob- 
trusive a manner as possible. Better an acute than a 
chronic trouble. 

If it is the voice that discounts the work of the choir by 
its disturbing prominence, transfer the singer to another 
part, or give him lessons that will obviate the trouble. If 
all plans fail, have a plain talk with the unhappy member 
and ask him to resign in the interest of the choir and the 
church. This is a dernier ressort and should not be used 
until all other methods fail. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 
. Whose duty is it to initiate movement for the organisation of 
a choir? Why? 
. What is the first test of membership in the choir? 
. What other qualifications are called for? 
. Should older singers be admitted ? 
. How large should the choir be? 
. When should choir members be paid? 
If not paid, what is their reward? 
. What preparation of the congregation is needed? 
. Should the choir be used as soon as organised ? 
. What can be done if trained singers are not to be found? 


— 


SOWMWNIAMNAWNH 


— 


XIX 
ORGANISING THE CHOIR (Conciupep) 


7. SOME IMPORTANT POINTS 


a. Number of Singers. Eight voices equally divided as 
to parts are usually spoken of as a double quartet, rather 
than as a chorus choir. Lowell Mason held that “ The 
smallest number which can constitute a choir according to 
the modern use of the word is twelve. . . . An ordinary 
church choir cannot be successful with a less number than 
about twenty-four voices, or six voices on a part.” With 
all due respect to the memory of Dr. Mason, there are 
probably more efficient chorus choirs in the land having 
less than twenty-four than there are those having twenty- 
four or more voices. Of course, the more good voices 
one can secure the better. The individuality of the voices, 
and their several shortcomings and defects, are lost in the 
general effect in a larger choir, as they cannot be in a 
double quartet or in a choir of ten or twelve voices. Too 
much depends on the average character of the voices, on 
their force, quality, training and blending, for Dr. Mason’s 
rule to have any great weight. 

His suggestion that there should be an equal number of 
voices on a part is misleading. Men’s voices as a rule are 
stronger than women’s. A robust tenor or a_basso- 
profundo will balance two average women’s voices. Ina 
choir of sixteen voices three basses and three tenors will 
likely balance four altos and six sopranos. Too much 
depends on the individual voices to apply any rule without 
discrimination. A single strong, low bass will count for 
as much as two average baritones. 


246 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 247 


b. Blending of Voices. A very important matter is the 
securing of a perfect blending of the voices. The more 
nearly the voices resemble each other in quality, the more 
perfect is their harmony. A single voice of peculiar 
timbre will spoil the work of a small choir, while the 
tone of a large choir will only be the richer for the 
partly submerged individual quality. In any chorus, 
the standing out separately of any voice, because of its 
force or its colour of tone, is a blemish. ‘The ideal is 
the loss of the individual voice in the general mass of 
blending tone. 

The relation of the individual voices of the singers to 
each other needs study. A singer, whose individuality of 
voice may delight as a soloist, may ruin the work of the 
choir by this same individuality. 

An oratorio may be given by a chorus and four soloists 
of wide repute, and the wretched quartet work of these 
soloists may excite wonder. Each of the four had 
brought a distinct individuality into the quartet and there 
could be no blending. 

Let your choir as a unit develop all the individuality 
possible, provided, of course, it is desirable individuality. 
But study your choir from a distance to weed out the 
offending peculiarity of the separate singers. 

You may find one singer puts so much more fervour or 
volume, or passion, or expression, or tremolo, into his 
work than do the others, as to attract attention to himself. 
If one singer stands out prominently for one character- 
istic, another for something else, a third for another rea- 
son, and so on, the result is a hodge-podge. Let the 
emotional singer sing solos with emotion, the strong singer 
the loud solos, the singer with expression the affettuoso 
music, but help each of them in concerted work to express 
only the individuality of the choir and to repress his own 


248 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


personal peculiarities. It will be magnificent training for 
the singers and a valuable accomplishment for the indi- 
vidual and for the choir. 

c. Readers of Music. ‘The better the singers can read 
music the more valuable they are, of course; but where 
good readers are not plentiful, there should be organised a 
junior choir, to whom regular instruction is given, until 
one by one they can be promoted into the regular choir. 
If possible, every full member ought to be able to read 
plain music. Chromatic passages will puzzle most ama- 
teur singers, and it would be folly to expect them to sing 
them at sight. Still they ought to be able to control their 
voices sufficiently well to learn them by note. 

d. No Social Lines Permissible. In organising the 
chorus choir the social lines of cleavage should be utterly 
ignored. The servant girl with a good voice and native 
musical feeling should feel as welcome as her mistress. 
While it does not follow that there should be social inti- 
macy in the choir, there can be the courtesy which any 
well-bred person demands of himself, and the Christian 
charity which overlooks the ignorance and lack of breed- 
ing evidenced by those less fortunately placed in the social 
scale. The house and worship of God should know no 
social disparities. 

e. Choir Singing Not Injurious to the Voice. ‘There is 
often objection raised to singing in a chorus by singers 
who have taken lessons, on the plea that chorus singing 
will harm their voices and that their teachers have forbid- 
den it.1. Had singing in a chorus been harmful Robert 


*“ Surely no person informed on the subject would advise 
against choirs as the medium first to attain experience in public 
singing, then to acquire style, for the improvement of sight read- 
ing and music drill in general as a means of learning much about 
tone production, and, finally, to instruct themselves in the mys- 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 249 


Schumann would not have given this advice: “ Sing fre- 
quently in choruses, especially in the middle parts. This 
makes you musical.” What F. W. Wodell in his “ Choir 
and Chorus Conducting”? emphatically declares is true, 
namely, that “The teacher of singing who condemns, 
without reserve, chorus singing for vocal students, thereby 
confesses ignorance of chorus work, and also a lack of 
confidence in his own teaching.” His other remark in 
this connection is equally deserving of attention, that 
“ well taught vocal students, who have passed the primary 
stages of instruction, when singing in chorus under a di- 
rector of fine taste who understands the voice, can come 
to no harm vocally, and will benefit musically by the 
experience.” | 


8. SINGERS SHOULD Br CHRISTIANS 


The question whether unconverted persons should be 
allowed to sing in the choir comes up for discussion at 
rather frequent intervals.” 


teries of poise, acoustic values, and many other of the smaller 
essentials. 

“I have tried to analyse the small-town student’s aloofness to 
choirs. I think it is, probably, the worst phase of the ‘big fish 
in a small pond’ conceit which is prevalent among young singers 
whose hats are too tight.” 

*“ To employ a godless or profane man to read the Bible in the 
service, just because he happens to be a competent elocutionist, 
would shock our sense of fitness and decency. But can anyone 
assign any reason except ‘the tradition of men,’ why the Scrip- 
ture, as voiced in the most idealised and spiritualised type of tone 
representation, is any less sacred than the same thought uttered in 
ordinary conversational language? Probably nine-tenths of all 
anthems, solos, and choruses used in our churches are direct Bible 
quotations, sometimes with slight alterations or paraphrases to 
suit a more rhythmical movement, but more often preserving even 
the exact literary form. Moreover, the passages employed for 


250 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


a. The Rule Should Not Be Rigid. That it would be 
better if all choir singers were Christians, no one will 
deny. Theoretically, Christians ought to sing more effec- 
tively than unreligious, not to say irreligious, persons, but 
practically, there is often no perceptible difference. 
Moody’s argument, that “it is no more inconsistent to 
have an ungodly minister than to have ungodly people 
singing in the church choir,” does not have a great deal of 
force. The parallel fails because the singer is too subor- 
dinate, too lacking in individual force. As well insist that 
all money given for the support of the church be con- 
tributed by professors of religion. This is no place for 
the application of cast-iron rules, so dear to precise, me- 
chanical minds. Many a man turned his face towards 
God when he began contributing to the expense of sus- 
taining His worship, and eventually became an active 
Christian, all resulting from the little seed-corn of inter- 
est. Many a young person takes the first step towards a 
Christian life when he joins the choir. 

b. The Mass of the Choir Should Be Religious. But 
all this presupposes that the bulk of the church contribu- 
tors, and, equally, that most of the choir are Christians. 


such use are nearly always among the tenderest and sublimest 
utterances of Holy Writ. 

“TI do not wonder that one of the most effective of our Chicago 
pulpit orators testifies that he not infrequently finds themes for his 
best sermons in the texts of the anthems sung by his choir. ‘That 
man attends his choir’s rehearsal every week, knows what they 
sing, and, no doubt, assists in making selections, sees how to 
adapt all the parts of the service to each other, comes into sym- 
pathy with his musicians, and brings them into sympathy with 
him, so that unity of aim and spirit are secured. His singers are 
all Christians. No one, I understand, sings in that choir who 
does not come to the communion table with the other worship- 
pers.”—Rev, W, B. Chamberlain. 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 251 


A church chiefly supported by worldly people, no matter 
how respectable, soon drops to their spiritual level. A 
choir that is made up of Christian people needs to guard 
against motives of pride and vanity. How can an unre- 
ligious choir hope to escape from these influences so fatal 
to true worship? 

So long as the general spirit and influence of the choir 
are religious, the occasional unconverted singer is to be 
welcomed with the hope that he will be helped as well as 
help. Of course, here again good sense must be used. If 
such a person is notoriously drunken, immoral, or antag- 
onistic in his attitude towards religion, he should not be 
admitted, no matter how good a singer he may be. 

c. The Influence as Well as the Number of the Uncon- 
verted Should Be Considered. It will depend not only 
upon the proportion of unconverted persons in the choir, 
but upon the influence which they exert upon the choir. 
It is possible for a single unconverted person to have such 
an influence in a choir as to secularise all its work and to 
bring it down to an exclusively artistic basis, which will, 
to a great extent, neutralise its religious value. 

On the other hand, it may be that a number of uncon- 
verted persons in the choir shall be so dominated by its 
general religious spirit that their influence for degrading 
the work of the choir into a mere artistic performance 
will not be felt. Indeed, in many choirs it has been the 
rule, that unconverted persons brought into the choir have 
speedily been led to accept Christ, and to become active 
workers in the church. 

d. The Christians in the Choir Should Be Intensely 
Religious. While it is important that the members of the 
choir shall be professing Christians, it is even more impor- 
tant that the choir as a whole shall be deeply religious, in 
spirit, in ideals, in ultimate purpose. Many of our church 


252 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


choirs, with all their members’ names on the church roll, ° 
are distinctly unreligious. They have no religious fer- 
vour, no earnestness. There is no conscious devoutness 
of purpose in the singing of their anthems. ‘They are 
mere musical performances out of which the hearers are 
to get as much pleasure as possible. The musical critics 
in the pew listen with a detached critical attitude, notice 
that some singers breathe in the middle of a word, that 
some of the sopranos flat on the high notes, that the open- 
ing attack was ragged, that the organist crowded the tempo 
and demoralised the confident poise of the choir, that only 
a part of the choir observed the marks of expression— 
and soon. Neither on the part of the choir, nor on that of 
the congregation, is there any sense of praise or prayer or 
religious inspiration. Whatever the personal religious 
condition of the singers, should not such a choir get 
religion? 

This unreligious attitude may be due to sheer religious 
indifference. It may be mere routinism. It is a job to be 
done like Monday’s washing, or Saturday’s bath, some- 
thing one has promised to do, which promise one must 
keep in sheer self-respect, in spite of its being somewhat 
of a bore! 

In any case such choirs should get religion. There 
should be a profound and controlling sense of religious 
results as being the final purpose of the choir. The com- 
manding importance of creating a devout attitude in the 
waiting congregation should be keenly felt. There should 
be a joyous sense of the divine presence that makes prayer 
and praise an actuality, that makes it genuine and effec- 
tive. There should be a common burden of a real spirit- 
ual message to be conveyed to the hearers and of the 
urgency of their acceptance of it. 

The minister and choir director should co-operate in 


ORGANISING THE CHOIR 253 


strong efforts and measures to secure such an atmosphere 
in the choir, by personal example, by tender and tactful 
heart-to-heart talks collectively and individually, and by 
prayer in private and in the choir rehearsal. A really 
devout congregation will also be a great help. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. Whose duty is it to suggest and push the organisation of a 


choir? Why? 


. What are the tests to be applied to prospective members of 


the choir? 


. Should the choir be confined to young people? 
. What may be said in favour of the official election of choir 


members ? 


. How large should a chorus choir be? 

. What, if possible, should be the nucleus of the chorus choir? 
. What are the sacrifices and rewards of the choir singer? 

. What care should be taken in assigning singers? 

. What preparation should be given the congregation? 

. What preliminary meeting should be held? 

. How soon should the new choir be allowed to appear? 

. Where persons eligible to sing in a choir are not in evidence, 


what course should be pursued? 


. What incidental results may be expected from this policy of 


preparation? 


. What shall be done with undesirable singers? 

. How many voices should be secured for the several parts? 
. Why is blending of voices desirable? 

. Should all choir members be able to read notes? 

. Is singing in a choir injurious to voices? 

. Why should choir singers be Christians? 


XX 


ORGANISATION OF THE CHOIR 


Class Room Suggestions: A formal constitution has been pur- 
posely omitted. It might be worth while to have several students 
submit paper constitutions for choirs, under varying conditions 
and discuss their several features. 


1. ORGANISATION NEEDED 


There can be no team work by a body of persons with- 
out adequate organisation. This is as true of a choir as 
of a football team or of a great army. The greater the 
number engaged, the more important it is that the duties, 
the responsibilities, and the relative authority of each unit 
shall be definitely fixed. In a quartet or double quartet 
choir this organisation need not be so definitely formu- 
lated and stressed. 


2. CONSTITUTION AND By-LAWS 


A large chorus choir ought by all means to have a 
formal and carefully prepared organisation. A regular 
constitution and by-laws with all the usual officers, adding 
choir director, organist, and librarian, are desirable. 

a. General Officers. The president should look after 
the temporalities, so to speak, leaving the music director 
free to devote all his time to the purely musical phases of 
the work. 

Looking after absentees, securing new members, pro- 
viding for the social side of the choir’s work, looking after 
the business interests of the choir, its income and ex- 
penditures, concerts, hiring special solo singers for such 


254 


ORGANISATION OF THE CHOIR 255 


concerts and the like, should be responsibilities assigned 
to the officers and executive committee. 

The treasurer should be the financial manager and dis- 
burse all moneys, no matter whence they are derived. The 
subsidy provided by the church should be transferred to 
him in a regular lump sum. 

b. Executive Committee. There should be an executive 
committee consisting of the general officers and two addi- 
tional members elected by the choir. It may be advisable 
to arrange for standing committees to look after separate 
phases of the work, such as new members, concerts, social 
events, outside opportunities for helpfulness, and the like. 

c. Authority of Executive Committee. It should be 
clearly understood that this cabinet of officers is not the 
final board of control, for above it are the pastor, the 
director, and the music committee of the church. - 

d. Danger of Such an Organisation, Such an organ- 
isation has been called a “‘ society for the prevention of the 
peace and efficiency of choir directors,’ and a strong plea 
made that the director should be the autocrat of the choir. 
With proper diplomacy the benefits of both systems may 
be secured. The director should be the musical head—the 
absolute monarch, if you please—when purely musical 
work is on hand, but why burden him with “serving 
tables ’’? When there has been friction, it has been due to 
a dictatorial director meddling with matters outside of his 
jurisdiction, or a lack of realisation on the part of the 
cabinet that a director has been employed because he is 
presumably better qualified to control the music of the 
choir than any of its members. 

e. The Secretary. The secretary will keep an accurate 
record of the business of the choir. What is more impor- 
tant, he will have charge of the roster of its members and 
note their presence and absence. 


256 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


f. Publicity Man, Every choir should have a publicity 
man whose business it is to keep its work before the con- 
gregation and the community by means of the public press 
generally, and by advertising its special services and con- 
certs by posters and circulars. In many choirs these 
duties will naturally fall upon the secretary. 

The value of this publicity will be threefold: it will in- 
crease the breadth of influence and usefulness of the 
choir; it will increase the responsiveness and interest of 
the congregation ; it will keep the church as a whole in the 
eyes of the community, enhance its standing and broaden 
its influence. 

g. The Librarian. Not the least important officer will 
be the librarian who has charge of the printed music be- 
longing to the choir. He ought to be a systematic person, 
able to keep it in perfectly accessible shape. 


3. ORGANISATION OF THE SINGERS 


a. Division Into Choir Sections. If the materials for a 
chorus choir are abundant it may be well to divide it into, 
say, four sections equally balanced in voices, skill, confi- 
dence, and in the parts, requiring only three sections to 
sing at any one time, except on very special occasions 
when all are wanted. In this way every singer gets a 
Sunday off every four weeks, and perfect attendance can 
be insisted upon when on duty. 

b. Dwiston Into Voice Sections. There should be a 
thorough survey and organisation of the singers of the 
choir. Care should be taken in assigning singers to their 
several parts. Mezzo voices are particularly difficult to 
place. The difference of a single note of range may decide 
which part a singer is to sing. The difficulty is increased 
by the preference of the singers. 

c. Provision for Solo Singing. ‘There should be a defi- 


ORGANISATION OF THE CHOIR 257 


nite appointment of a quartet of soloists, to whom all new 
solos, duets, trios and quartets should be assigned for a 
specified time, three or six months. This may be done by 
the election of the choir or by the appointment of the 
leader. 

d. Organisation of Women’s and Men’s Voices. The 
women’s voices should be carefully located as first and 
second sopranos and first and second altos, every singer 
knowing definitely which part she is to sing, so that there 
need be no delay for organisation in case the voices divide 
or a chorus for women’s voices is decided upon. The 
same course should be pursued with the men’s voices. As 
new members come in, they should be carefully assigned, 
keeping in view not only the range of the individual voice, 
but the balancing of the parts as well. 

e. Organisation of Quartets. A quartet of women’s 
voices and one of men’s voices, which need not be solo 
voices at all, may be selected from the material at hand 
and so interest and bring into prominence singers who 
otherwise might receive no recognition. 

f. Value of Organisation. ‘The thoroughness of such 
an organisation stimulates the director to take advantage 
of its magnificent possibilities, and a finer selection of 
music may be made. On the other hand, his failure to 
utilise every feature of such an organisation, as oppor- 
tunity offers, will make it a dead letter, and it will break 
down of its own weight. 


4. Tur OFFicta, RELATIONS OF THE CHOIR 
a. The Choir and the Music Committee. In many 
churches there is a music committee appointed by their 
officials. ‘Theoretically, it is entirely correct. Practically, 
it should be simply an emergency committee with author- 
ity to interpose, if the music is not functioning properly 


258 - THE CHURCH CHOIR 


under the immediate supervision of a physically limited or 
incompetent pastor. 

If such a committee is not itself musical, in the profes- 
sional sense of the word, it will not greatly matter. It 
should, however, consist of persons who are tactful and 
considerate, fertile in resources and plans, not easily dis- 
couraged, sufficiently versed in music to know good work 
when they hear it, and yet imbued with a practical sense 
of music that shall assure their co-operation with the plans 
of the pastor. 

Nevertheless, if the pastor is prepared to do his own 
share of the work and has an energetic, faithful, and dis- 
creet choir leader, who will accept responsibility for all 
phases of the musical service, the music committee can be 
dispensed with as a needless piece of machinery. In place 
of a music committee there may be a “ choir patron ” who 
devotes himself to the interests of the choir, socially and 
otherwise. 

b. Relation of the Choir to the Pastor. It should ac- 
cept the authority of the pastor. It lies in the very nature 
of the church that the pastor should have authority over 
the choir and its work. The work of the choir has no 
meaning or purpose except as it co-operates with the rest 
under the direction of the pastor. 

Some choirs have a selfish, arrogant attitude, as if they 
were organisations apart from the churches they are sup- 
posed to serve. They resent the suggestion of being 
subordinate to the pastor or to the church officials. 

It should be loyal to the pastor. The choir should be 
something more than outwardly subordinate: it should be 
loyal in heart to its chief. Its members should hold him in 
high esteeem, making much of his favourable qualities, 
and passing over his failings. 

The choir should be in sympathy with the pastor’s 


ORGANISATION OF THE CHOIR 259 


plans. Is the pastor trying to deepen the religious life of 
his people? Is he seeking to attract the unchurched to his 
services in order to win them for Christ? Is he organ- 
ising an evangelistic campaign? Is he striving to build up 
his mid-week service? Is he seeking to get the boys and 
girls and the young people into closer and kindlier rela- 
tions with the church? Is he trying to build up the gener- 
ous and unselfish impulses among his people by laying 
stress on the regular benevolences or on current move- 
ments of helpfulness? 

Why should not the choir sympathise with these efforts 
and do what they can privately, as well as by their public 
singing, to help him in these projects? This sympathetic 
attitude is like bread cast upon the waters: its results 
return to bless the singers, directly in the admiration and 
affection of their pastor, indirectly in the larger fruits of 
their regular work. 

They should be helpful to the pastor. They will suggest 
new plans and methods that will further the spiritual and 
social life of the church. They will occasionally offer to 
sing in his mid-week service. They will listen to his 
sermons and cheer him by commending them, surround- 
ing him with a genial atmosphere of appreciation and 
commendation. 

c. The Pastor's Attitude Towards the Chow. But all 
this is not possible, if the pastor’s attitude towards his 
choir is not genial, does not inspire confidence and good- 
will. While the choir should feel that he is their preacher, 
he should feel that they are his choir. Using his author- 
ity, not as a rigid disciplinarian, but as a kind friend, he 
will win their respect by his tact, his wise leadership, his 
evident results. He will have unstinted praise for their 
good work privately and publicly. 

He will include them in his public prayers. He will 


260 THE CHURCH CHOIR 

occasionally attend their rehearsals and give them a short 
but stirring address and will pray with them. Their finan- 
cial needs will be his care, either in the budget, or failing 
in that, by public offerings or by private subscriptions. 

The initiative in these kindly relations must come from 
the pastor. He must make the advances; he must supply 
the interest, the geniality, the basis of reciprocal feeling. 
If the choir feels that it is the apple of the pastor’s eye, 
that he is as much interested in its work as he is in the 
Sunday-school, or in the Young People’s Society, or in the 
mid-week prayer meeting, that he is working for its inter- 
ests in the official board, among the congregation, before 
the general public, then there will be no lack of responsive 
loyalty and co-operation on its part. 

d. The Choir and the Director. The first obligation a 
choir owes to its director is to obey him. ‘That is the 
prime essential to its success. His baton should be a 
magic wand to which all respond. His signals for expres- 
sion should evoke the full force of their voices or their 
softest whispers. Prompt, implicit obedience to the di- 
rector is the secret of success. 

The fault of most choirs is not disobedience, but a lack 
of full obedience. When the director signals pp they sing 
mp instead. If he makes signs for a molto rit. they slow. 
down to a poco rit., instead. 

It may well be that the director’s interpretation is 
faulty, or leaves much to be desired in the way of 
breadth ; none-the-less it is the choir’s business to obey. 

The choir’s responsiveness. It is the director’s task to 
bring out the emotion underlying the text and the music, 
and to get the choir to feel it and express it. ‘To do that 
the director must have the emotion kindled in himself 
and then arouse it in his singers. But if they hold 
aloof, if they have no thrill responding to the director’s 


ORGANISATION OF THE CHOIR 261 


thrill, his efforts will be vain and the music will lose its 
soul. If the director himself has no contagious emotional 
and musical feeling, the only cure is—to get a new di- 
rector who has. 

The choir’s admiration and good-will for the director. 
If the choir can be so favorably impressed with its di- 
rector’s abilities and character as to admire him as a 
leader and as a man, the entente cordiale will easily be 
established. Some directors have spectacular natures, are 
demonstrative, effusive, brilliant, and soon win their sing- 
ers. A quieter man of equal ability and character may be 
slower in attaching his choir to himself, but in the end he 
will command their loyal devotion and love. A choir that 
loves its director is more likely to do high class work than 
one that is indifferent. How shall a director win their 
love? Simply by being lovable. Courtesy, kindliness, 
consideration, are not too high a price to pay. 

The choir owes it to its director to be punctual. There 
is no fault that so harasses and vexes a director’s soul as 
a lack of punctuality. It wastes his and his choir’s time, 
jeopardises his success and inflicts upon him the distress 
of defeat. To come late, to be absent from rehearsal or 
church service, is the height of cruelty. Regularity and 
punctuality of attendance should be insisted upon at both 
rehearsal and service. 

A choir would be wise to establish a rule that any one 
absent at the previous rehearsal cannot sing on Sunday. 

Absence at church service is even worse. To find the 
solo singer or even half of the choir absent after a hard 
rehearsal during the week, is most exasperating and by no 
means conducive to piety. Substitutes may be improvised, 
but they lack the proper mental and spiritual background, 
as well as the needed practice. 

e. The Choir and the Organist. The organist is only 


262 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


second to the director in his influence on the work of the 
choir. He can help, but, unfortunately, he can also mar. 
The organist is subordinate to the director, of course, but 
he can bring out the nice details of the director’s interpre- 
tation by means of the Swell pedal and by proper registra- 
tion in a way impossible to be accomplished by speech or 
signal. 

Responsiveness to the organist’s playing. It is, there- 
fore, the duty of the choir to give attention to the playing 
of the organist and to respond to his leading in tempo and 
force. His cres. and dim., his accel. and rit., his swells on 
short phrases, his legato and staccato, his pp and ff—all 
should be instantly responded to by the choir. 

Appreciation of the organist. There should be unfail- 
ing appreciation of the help the organist affords. Genial 
rather than merely formal courtesy, kindly words regard- 
ing his voluntaries, and unfailing attention to them, recog- 
nition of his cues to the choir, or to the soloist, without 
which there might have been a catastrophe, general words 
of commendation of his successful playing, spoken to him 
and to others who will report to him the “ trade last,” will 
establish a responsiveness and intimacy of relation be- 
tween him and the choir that will condute to better results 
and a genial atmosphere. 

The organist’s response. With such an attitude toward 
him on the part of the choir, it will be easy for the organ- 
ist to find opportunity to show his appreciation. He will 
catch the director’s spirit and the details of his interpreta- 
tion and body them forth in an audible, comprehensible 
way ; listening for the weak spots where one or the other 
part is stumbling, he will emphasise the troublesome notes 
that are worrying them. He will give cues to guide the 
choir, or the soloist, to the proper pitch in attacking diffi- 
cult passages. 


ORGANISATION OF THE CHOIR 263 


5. THE CHOIR AND THE CONGREGATION 

The supreme function of the choir is the praise and 
adoration of God, both in its own behalf and in that of 
the listening congregation. Contributing to the glory of 
God on the one hand, and helping the congregation in its 
devotion, on the other, are the two phases of its work. 

Helping the congregation. The congregation is to be 
helped by selecting and singing anthems and other music 
that will appeal to it and inspire it, in such a way as to 
produce the nervous and emotional reactions needful to its 
devotions, and conducive to the desired motives and de- 
cisions. There must be a genuine concern for the con- 
gregation, an interest in its spiritual welfare, a love that 
seeketh not its own pride and vain glory. 

Participation in the service. If a musical person is 
willing to co-operate in the musical development of any 
service, he should be also willing to unite with pastor and 
people in the other exercises of that service. Prof. H. C. 
McDougal is justified in asking: ‘‘ Why should an organ- 
ist or singer be unwilling to shut the eyes and bow the 
head, or kneel (if that is the custom) during prayers? 
Why should he not say ‘amen,’ or join audibly in the 
Lord’s prayer? Is it because he is not a communicant of 
any church?” 

The choir can greatly discount the impressiveness of a 
communion service by mechanical, unemotional singing, 
and by the attitude of its members. To see the plate of 
broken bread, that has been set apart by prayer as a sym- 
bol of the broken body of Christ, pass from singer to 
singer as if it were a plate of stale marshmallows, and the 
tray of communion cups as if it were a dish of olives, 
while the singers are watching the audience, or are pas- 
sively indifferent, is distinctly disturbing to the devotion 
of the members of the congregation. 


264 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


c. The Behaviour of the Choir. The choir is in a con- 
spicuous place. All eyes are upon it. The organ front 
may be a picture of beauty, but the choir is a moving 
picture and compels attention. 

That being true, the actions and behaviour of the mem- 
bers of the choir are of great importance. Their dignity 
and restraint will have a religious value. Their frivolous- 
ness and lack of dignity will be a distraction, a cheapening 
of the service that will ruin its effect for many in the 
congregation. 

The attitude of the choir towards the preacher and his 
sermon should express what one choir singer promised 
Rev. Dr. C. B. McAfee: “ You can depend on having the 
best of us from the beginning of the service to the end.” 
Dr. McAfee declares, “It was easier to preach on those 
terms.” 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. When will a minute organisation be helpful in a choir? 

2. What officers will be needed beyond those common to all 
organisations ? 

. How may a large choir be subdivided? 

. How should the several voice parts be organised? 

. When is a music committee advisable? 

. What should be the relations of the choir to the pastor? 

. What should be the pastor’s attitude to the choir? 

. Who must initiate the kindly relation between them? 

. Under what obligations should the choir be to its director ? 

. Why is regularity of attendance at rehearsals and services 
so important? 

11. What can be done to insure it? 

12. What attitude should the choir assume to the organist? 

13. What can the organist do for the choir? 

14. How can the choir help the congregation? 

15. Why should its members heartily participate in all the 

services? 
16. Why is good behaviour so important in the choir? 


SoOONN UN W 


ry 


XX] 


THE CHOIR DIRECTOR 


Class Room Suggestions: Several five-minute addresses by lead- 
ing choir directors on phases of their work may be helpful in 
making the points of this chapter concrete and vivid. It may be 
well to submit questions to these guests. 


1. Tue ImporTANCE oF THE CHorr DIRECTOR 


The real organising force in any body of singers is its 
musical director; without him it is simply a mob. Under 
his direction, it largely becomes an expression of his per- 
sonality, with his faults or his virtues. If he is indiffer- 
ent, or listless, it will be lacking in spirit and sharpness of 
attack ; if he is slipshod and lacking in conscientiousness, 
its work will be incorrect and ragged. But if he is full of 
enthusiasm and courage, exact in his knowledge of music, 
fastidious in every mechanical detail, if he is brimful of 
musical feeling, quick to apprehend the composer’s pur- 
pose and to see possibilities of new and varied interpreta- 
tions of the music in hand, the work of the chorus will rise 
to the same high plane of excellence. 


- 


2. Tue Trarts oF A Goop CHorr DIRECTOR 


In any choir, therefore, the leader is the key to the situ- 
ation, and the choice should be made with the greatest 
care. It may be worth while to emphasise the traits that 
are needed to round out an ideal choir leader. Some of 
them are absolutely indispensable to any measure of suc- 
cess, others are desirable, but not essential. 

a. A Man of Decision, ‘The choir leader must needs be 


265 


266 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


a man of decision of character. No merely nice man, no 
inoffensive, negatively good fellow will do; he must be a 
leader among men by native impulse and instinct. He 
must be reasonably sure of his opinion regarding every 
phase of choir work. He is definitely responsible for the 
work of the choir, and the choir must accept his decision 
in musical matters as final, else there will be endless dis- 
cussion, degenerating into wrangling and strife, and a 
helpless disorganisation fatal to all good work. 

b. A Man of Intelligence and Discretion. ‘The choir 
leader must be a man of intelligence and discretion. 
Second only to the minister in his influence on the impres- 
siveness and effectiveness of the church service, he needs 
to be judicious in adapting the means he controls, in such 
a way as to produce the desired end. Dealing with the 
varied human nature gathered in his choir, the focus of all 
its social as well as its musical interest, he needs to be a 
strategist of no mean order, and a diplomatist full of re- 
sources, to get out of it the best results with the least pos- 
sible friction and the largest possible enthusiasm. 

The man who has not sounded the depths of the philoso- 
phy of the Widow Bedott’s lamented mate, “ We’re all 
poor critturs!”’ is living in a sorry mist of illusion, and his 
thinking on any subject, from running a choir to planning 
world wide peace, will be faulty and untrustworthy. 

In the first place, he needs to watch his own heart and 
prevent moral weeds from springing up and choking 
his better qualities and impulses. He does not like some 
of his singers,—they distress him by their very presence. 
Others he likes, but they have irritating ways. What a 
firm hand he must have on the throttle of his own nature 
to be kindly and impartial with them all. 

Then he must know his singers individually, know not 
only their boiling points, but their exploding points. He 


THE CHOIR DIRECTOR 267 


ought to discover the likes and dislikes of the members of 
the choir, even though he consistently ignores them in 
order always to avoid rousing sleeping dogs. A diplo- 
matist seeking to preserve the peace of the world has a 
larger but not a more difficult task than the director of 
the average volunteer choir. 

c. A Man of Energy and Spirit. The management of a 
choir calls for too much vivacity, alertness, and fertility 
of mind, to hope that a dullard should succeed. The di- 
rector must be a “live wire,” as the street phrase goes, 
from whom the current of enthusiasm goes tingling and 
inspiring through every member of the choir. Even quiet, 
sad, or depressing music must have vitality, not express- 
ing passive dullness, but deep, thrilling emotions. The 
organist has a great deal of influence on the singing of the 
choir, but he, as well as the choir, is dependent on the 
choir director for insight and spirit. 

ad. A Man of Personality and Charm. ‘The choir di- 
rector should have personality and charm, ability to win as 
well as control his singers. Bright, witty, amusing ways 
of putting things will take the dreariness out of the neces- 
sary repetitions of passages for correction and for expres- 
sion. He will mix with the people and learn their likes 
and dislikes, their wants and their needs. How can a man 
know the needs of a people with whom he does not min- 
gle? He ought to know the several social and religious 
strata which compose his congregation in order that he 
may secure general co-operation and not ignorantly or 
thoughtlessly call attention to the various lines of cleav- 
age which are usually the chief danger in the American 
voluntary church. This close touch with all phases of the 
church’s life will help him to avoid many of the pitfalls 
which lie in his way in the conduct of the choir itself, and 
which often precipitate unnecessary contention and strife. 


268 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


e. A Student of His Work. The director must be a 
student. There are new issues of music, new composers, 
new methods of work to be studied. He can never learn 
all about music as it relates itself to his church work. 
There are new books to be secured and read. ‘There are 
new points of musical notation constantly coming up to be 
settled. The psychology of music calls for attention. 
The history of music in general and of church music in 
particular should be acquired. He should master the 
mechanical details of the organ. He will be greatly in- 
terested in the methods of prominent conductors of choirs, 
choral societies and orchestras. Above all, he will study 
his own work, and discover new ideas, new methods, new 
effects. He will avoid staleness of mind and ruttiness of 
method as he would sin. 

f. A Man of Musical Capacity. ‘There must be genuine 
musical talent in a director, if not genius. He must be 
susceptible to music, must have musical insight, must liter- 
ally feel it in his bones, if he is to be a good judge of its 
value and of the impression it will make on the congrega- 
tion. He must be sensitive to the delicate shadings and 
nuances possible in expressive music. He must have an 
emotional nature that comprehends the musical message 
of a composition. No amount of mechanical training will 
take the place of this congenital musical element. 

g. He Must Have a Good Musical Education and 
Training. It is very important that the director shall have 
had a good musical education and training, not only in 
notation, but in ear, in voice, and in choral expression. At 
least, he should be superior to his singers. Lack of musi- 
cal knowledge and insight, whether in mechanical detail 
or the larger interpretation, does grievous harm to the 
choir, leading to bad habits, misunderstandings, and utter 
inefficiency, New points are constantly coming up for 


THE CHOIR DIRECTOR 269 


correction, new details of typography and composer’s 
directions, where ignorance would utterly defeat the 
writer’s purpose and neutralise the effect of the music 
upon the congregation. No choir director can know too 
much ; he may know altogether too little. His ear should 
detect at once a false note struck either by the organ or by 
an individual singer, and correct it. It would be well if 
he could detect and correct misprints that will occur even 
in the best edited music. 

h. A Good Teacher. Need it be said that he should be 
a good teacher, able to explain clearly what things are to 
be done and how? As far as the first reading of an 
anthem goes, the pedagogue is very much to the fore; 
afterwards the artist should be manifest, and finally the 
spiritual leader. 

t. Understand Vocal Training. ‘The choir director need 
not have a good voice, but should possess a knowledge of 
the different registers of the human voice and the best 
methods of producing good tone. To do this he will need 
keen and discriminating hearing with a nice sense of vocal 
quality. If the director has the necessary knowledge and 
skill to train his choir vocally, much better artistic results 
may be expected. He ought to know at least enough about 
the human voice to secure a good quality of tone out of 
his singers and to prevent his abuse of the voices entrusted 
to his direction. 

j. He Must Have Some Literary Training. If he is to 
properly interpret the texts his choir is to sing, he must 
have enough literary training to understand them, to enter 
into their spirit, and to phrase them properly. ‘This is 
particularly true of the hymns to-be sung by choir and 
congregation. He will, at least, understand punctuation ; 
else how can he phrase the music properly ? 

k, He Must Know the Hymnal. Need it be emphasised 


270 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


that the choir director, who usually is also the responsible 
congregational precentor, should know his hymnal well in 
all its aspects? He should have a strong sense of literary 
and lyric values in hymns, and be keenly susceptible to 
their spiritual appeal. He cannot hope to teach his choir 
to render them intelligently and effectually without such a 
grasp of their meaning. He must be able to discriminate 
between what is simply good music and really good and 
useful congregational tunes, in order that his selection 
may be practicable. 

1. He Must Be a Practical Man. 'The choir leader must 
be a practical man. He must have a definite religious and 
devotional aim: the inspiration and help of the listening 
or singing congregation. He must not be an artistic 
egoist, insisting that only the music that he personally 
enjoys and approves shall be rendered. He must not be a 
musical idealist with near-sighted vision only for the 
standard of music he has set up, but a practical worker, 
using music as a means to a higher end. He must study 
the intellectual and spiritual needs of his people. ‘This 
will determine his choice of music, his selection of singers, 
his style of rendition and his relation to the pastor and 
congregation. 

m. He Must Work With and Under the Pastor. The 
director should never forget that officially the pastor is his 
musical superior and should defer to his plans for the 
service. The minister is the strategist of the service. He 
may have little to do with the details, leaving these to the 
director, but the latter’s business is to adapt his music to 
the pastor’s plans, and further them to the full extent of 
its possibilities. Dr. Cleland B. McAfee, in a series of 
most admirable articles in “The Choir Leader,” gives 
wise advice: “The best way to bring about unity in the 
order of worship is, of course, for the minister and the 


THE CHOIR DIRECTOR 271 


choir leader to hold a conference every week, in which 
the next Sabbath’s services are planned. That will enable 
the minister to meet what may prove to be the choir neces- 
sities of the week, and will enable the choir leader to meet 
the needs of the service from the minister’s point of view. 
This conference has ordinarily been held, in my own min- 
istry, very early in the week, when the themes of the fol- 
lowing Sabbath had been determined. It was possible 
then to look over the available materials of music, and to 
see what was most fitting for the occasion. If a minister 
does not seek this conference, let the choir leader be sure 
to do it, and most ministers will welcome it. This would 
be a time also for the selection of the hymns, on which the 
leader and the minister ought to agree, not for rehearsal’s 
sake only, but for the sake of making them harmonious 
with the rest of the service.” 

It may be wise to add that not only should the minister 
manage the choir director, but that the latter should also 
manage him. ‘That is, where the minister is derelict in his 
musical duties, or is resourceless, or lacking in initiative, 
the director should crowd him a little into proper co- 
operation, or into helpful variations of the musical meth- 
ods. This should be done suggestively, not dictatorially. 

n. He Must Be a Man, After all, nothing counts in a 
choir leader with his choir so much as sheer manliness. 
Sincerity, straightforwardness, unswerving justice, con- 
sideration for others, conscientiousness in all phases of his 
work, will have the right of way as long as the world 
stands ; and the choir leader who possesses these traits to 
any considerable extent may be sure of the respect and 
good-will, and hence the obedience, of his singers. 

o. He May Be a Woman, The directorship is not a 
question of sex, but of directing capacity. There are 
many women choir leaders, who are giving most excellent 


272 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


service, all over the land. The feminine susceptibility to 
music, the instinct for finesse of detail, the native and 
acquired social tact,—all are qualities in which they excel. 
They often have the masterfulness of men, less its 
brusqueness. In many churches, therefore, a woman of 
the right qualities may be more successful than a man. 

pb. He Must Be a Christian. Whatever else the choir 
leader may be, he must be a Christian. Only a spiritual 
man, who personally knows what devotion towards God 
is, can properly guide the musical expression of the wor- 
ship of both choir and congregation. As well set a blind 
man to oversee the mural decorations of the church, as to 
expect a man who cannot pray, and who has no sense of 
the immediate presence of God in His temple, to lead the 
expression of the religious emotions of truly devout 
people. No, the music is not conventional and cannot be 
managed by conventional prescription. Better take an 
inferior leader with a devout mind than his musical su- 
perior without it. 


3. THE Work oF THE CHoIR LEADER 

The choir leader has no sinecure, if he does all he ought 
to do and does it well. 

a. General Management of Choir Music. He has the 
responsibility for the general management of the church’s 
music and must do all its planning in this line. He must 
know the needs of the various occasions that arise, 
whether the church year is strictly observed or not. The 
plans of the minister are to be learned and studied, in 
order that the choir’s share of the program may be strictly 
in line with the forward movement of the church. ‘This 
one point of nice adaptation to the general work of the 
congregation requires more careful thought than many 
leaders give to all their work. 


THE CHOIR DIRECTOR 273 


b. The Selection of the Music. The selection of music 
to meet these recognised needs is no small task. Of 
course, the choir has its anthem books, choir journals, and 
octavos, but even these, rich as they may be, do not always 
furnish the exact number required for the pastor’s pro- 
gram, or for the particular exigency of the situation. 
Then there must be search and examination of music until 
the appropriate number is found. Perhaps a new supply 
of music is needed, new books are to be provided, a suit- 
able journal to be selected, a fresh supply of octavos to be 
chosen. In order to have the widest range of selection, he 
must know all the leading publishers of sacred music and 
the styles and grades of difficulty they represent. But all 
this means study of the situation and careful deliberation 
with the true purpose of church music clearly in view. 

c. He Must Study the Capacity of His Singers. He 
ought to know the exact capacity of the several singers in 
his choir, unbiassed in his judgment by any personal likes 
or dislikes. It may be well to make excuses for testing 
privately the value of some voices regarding which there is 
an uncertainty, as the time of the choir should not be 
wasted on such rehearsals, nor the feelings of unsuccess- 
ful solo aspirants needlessly wounded. 

d. He May Act as Social Secretary. In a volunteer 
choir whose members sing gratuitously, there may be need 
of a little more social recognition of the singers than is 
required in a paid choir. Kind words from the leader, 
inquiries after friends, sympathy in sorrow, congratula- 
tions over some happy event, a kindly jest, a merry re- 
mark, all have their value in binding the choir together, 

e. He Must Build Up His Choir. Then the choir di- 
rector must keep close watch on the musical people of his 
congregation. He must be a discoverer of talent and 
voice, however unpretentious or unheralded. He ought 


274 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


to watch the children in the Sunday-school, for an occa- 
sional boy soprano or alto may be found who will be a 
valuable help in his choir, not to speak of the young 
women that have budding voices that need to be encour- 
aged and developed, or of the boys whose voices are 
changing into something desirable for the chorus choir. 

f. Activities Outside the Church, It is often possible 
to extend the range of his social activities to the outside 
world and to other churches. In many communities it 
would prove an inspiration to all the churches, if their 
several choirs occasionally united on some more ambitious 
program than any one choir would care to attempt. A 
fraternal feeling between the several choir leaders would 
make such an enterprise possible. Quite frequently there 
are other lines of work, such as the Y. M. C. A., Y. W. 
C. A., hospitals, etc., that may be helped in one way or 
another. In all these the individual choir leader must be 
the one to take the initiative. | 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 
. Who is the organising force in the choir? 
. Why is decision of character needful in a choir director? 
. Why must a choir director know human nature? 
. Why does he need energy and spirit? 
_ Of what value is striking and pleasing personality? 
What musical elements must the choir director possess? 
. How much knowledge of vocal training is essential? 
. What literary insight is needful? 
. Why should he be a practical man? 
_ Why should he subordinate himself to the pastor? 
. Why is it needful for him to be blameless in character and a 
Christian ? 
12. What are the several lines of the choir director’s work? 
13. What are his social duties ? 
14. How may he extend his influence beyond his own church? 


AunpWN 


KH COO CON 


— 


XXII 


THE SELECTION OF MUSIC 


Class Room Suggestions: It may be well to put on the black- 
board a list of the reputable church music publishers of the coun- 
try with some suggestions as to the average grade of difficulty of 
their issues. In some classes it may be wise to have sample 
anthem books, octavos, and choir journals, with which to illustrate 
their relative advantages and convenience. 


No other of the choir director’s many responsibilities is 
quite so far-reaching in its influence as the selection of the 
music to be rendered by the choir. On it depends the 
spirit with which the choir takes up its work in the re- 
hearsal, and the measure not only of the artistic, but, 
what is more important, of the spiritual success that is to 
be achieved. It should be taken up with great seriousness 
and extreme care. 


1. PREPARING FOR THE SELECTION oF Music 


The pastor and choir leader should outline a general 
schedule for six months or a year of the lines of work to 
be done. That does not mean the determining specific 
anthems for each Sunday service, but does mean the dis- 
cussion of the general scope of the campaigns, whether 
evangelistic, devotional, or inspirational. It should in- 
clude plans for cantatas, seasonal and general, and for 
concerts and other outside activities. 


2. THe TuHreE Forms oF CyHorr Music 


The three sources of choir material are anthem books, 
octavos, and choir journals. 


275 


276 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


a. The Anthem Book. The anthem book has some ad- 
vantages: it is easily cared for, being compact and easily 
handled and kept in order; if the music is properly se- 
lected and edited, there will be provision for all sea- 
sons and special emergencies as well as for the regular 
service. 

The disadvantages are also obvious: the book is heavy 
and awkward to hold; the binding soon becomes shabby 
and broken and offensive to the eye; naturally the most 
attractive music it contains is sung first and the collection 
becomes increasingly stale and unattractive, so that when 
half of its contents are sung the rest has been rejected so 
often that, no matter what its intrinsic value, it no longer 
appeals. 

b. The Octavo. The octavo has the merit of being 
light and easy to hold. If proper care is taken in selection 
there need be no undesirable material accumulated. The 
range of selection is extremely wide and the adaptation in 
style and grade and in thought and feeling can be secured 
to a minute degree. The range of authorship is much 
wider than in books and journals, and the music of many 
of the best composers can be secured only in this form. 

The objections to the octavo are its expensiveness, the 
amount of time needed for examination and selection, and 
the difficulty in keeping the copies organised in an acces- 
sible way and in keeping them in order. 

c. The Choir Journal, In recent years the choir journal 
has been widely introduced. Its attractive feature is that 
it brings a monthly budget of new music, regularly creat- 
ing a fresh interest in the work of the choir, carefully 
selected in quality and practicability, with provision for 
all seasonal and other recurring needs. It shares with the 
octavos the advantages of being light and easy to hold, 
while reducing the difficulty of caring for the fugitive 








THE SELECTION OF MUSIC 277 


material. It is much cheaper than the octavo and slightly 
cheaper than the book. 

On the other hand, it has not the wide range of selec- 
tion offered by the octavo, but shares to a lesser degree the 
difficulty in keeping the issues in order. This is obviated 
in part by the use of monthly cases provided by the pub- 
lishers, or by the use of binders, which, of course, grad- 
ually introduce the weight and awkwardness of books. 


3. Tue Metsop oF SELECTION 


It will be seen that this work should not be done in 
haste. For the director to sit in a music store and look 
over twenty-five pieces of music in as many minutes, and 
to select what is to be sung for weeks to come, is a waste- 
ful economy of time. Account of too many things is to be 
taken that the selection should be wisely dispatched in 
such haste. It may be well to consult with the pastor and 
the organist and to spend a whole evening playing and 
talking over the samples that have been secured. Such a 
meeting may be a regular monthly one, the selection to be 
made at least two months before the anthems are actually 
to be used. 


4. ImMporTAN?T Factors IN SELECTION 


a. The Texts of Anthems. There is frequently little 
attention paid to the words to which anthems are set. 
Directors are satisfied if the general impression is re- 
ligious or even near-religious. Such an attitude is unfor- 
tunate. The text is really the main thing in an anthem 
or choir number, for it furnishes the message to be 
conveyed.* Sir Joseph Barnby called the anthem “a kind 


*“Choir music cannot perform its mission unless the greatest 
care is exercised about the texts that are chosen. The indiscrim- 


278 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


of musical sermon.” If this be so, it must convey defi- 
nitely religious ideas and feelings. It should express 
worship, of course, but may also supply inspiration, ex- 
hortation, and even instruction. Just what reaction an 
anthem can produce will be clearly indicated by its text. 
The anthem in a missionary service should have a mission- 
ary text, in a service rallying the church forces for some 
specific campaign, a hortatory text, and so on. In the 
worship section of the general service, texts of praise and 
adoration of God alone are in place. Instructional, inspi- 
rational, and hortatory anthem texts have their place in 
the anthem before the sermon. 

b. Its Adaptation to Ability of Choir. It must not be 
too difficult. In choosing the music it is important that the 
capacity of the choir should be considered. ‘To insist that 
an untrained choir shall sing difficult or scholastic music 
is worse than useless. They cannot render it accurately ; 
they cannot sing it sincerely and spontaneously. There 
will be a loss of morale and courage among the singers, 
eventuating in the disintegration of the choir. 

Do not despise easy music. It is in the easier numbers 
that the larger opportunity for fine expressional work is 
offered. The choir will sing the easier music more spon- 
taneously and with more varied expression, because its at- 
tention is not monopolised by difficult progressions. 

A choir may have some excellent readers and singers, 
but the body of them may be very slow to take up any- 
thing elaborate or difficult. Here the general average 
must rule. An easy anthem by Ashford, Scott, or Stults, 
sung with the consciousness of full mastery, is worth, for 


inate use of any text that has a churchly flavour, or even of texts 
that are only commended by the sweet or stately music that is 
adapted to them, is very objectionable.’-—Waldo S. Pratt in 
“ Parish Problems.” 











THE SELECTION OF MUSIC 279 


devotional purposes, a dozen full anthems by Smart, 
Stainer, or Shelley wretchedly bungled and butchered. 

It must not be alien to the feelings of the choir. There 
can be no sincerity or spontaneity in the singing of the 
choir, if the music is alien to their feelings and taste.” 

If it is cheap and tawdry, a band of cultivated singers 
can put no enthusiasm into its rendition. If it is heavy 
with recondite harmonies or complicated with studied 
polyphony, the less cultivated choir may struggle through 
it, but there will be no genuine and contagious feeling in 
their singing. 

In the matter of grade of difficulty, the criterion of 
selection, as far as the choir is concerned, must be the abil- 
ity to learn to sing it spontaneously, in the time for re- 
hearsal that is available. For the sake of the training in 
musical appreciation of both choir and congregation, a 
more difficult number may be learned by frequent rehear- 
sal. But the singers will not sing effectually what they 
themselves do not appreciate. 

The incidental solos found in anthems must be consid- 
ered in the light of the solo talent of the choir. Many an 
anthem, otherwise well sung, is discounted by the harsh, 
unmelodious, strained singing of its solos. As some solo 
voices are distinctly antipathetic, duets are not always 
effective. 

Perhaps no mistake is more frequently made than to ask 
a quartet choir to sing a distinctly chorus anthem. ‘The 


*“ Great care should be taken to distinguish between the differ- 
ent kinds of choir music, so that the mental attitude of the singers 
shall be adapted to what they are doing. No pains can be too 
great to secure a delicate adjustment of anthems and sentences to 
the parts of the service next to them; for half the effectiveness of 
an exercise of public worship is due to its full union and harmony 
with its fellows.”—-Waldo S. Pratt in “ Parish Problems.” 


280 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


result is always pitifully inadequate, much like playing 
Wagner’s “ Pilgrim’s Chorus ” on the mandolin. Usually 
the registration of the organist fits the music and sub- 
merges the poor soloists who are trying to play the role 
of a full chorus, and accentuates their inadequacy. 

Of course, the contrary mistake can also be made, for 
many a beautiful quartet selection, requiring delicacy of 
interpretation in the individual voices, would be ruined by 
the usually heavy treatment of a chorus choir. 

c. Its Adaptation to the Needs of the Congregation. 
The capacity of the congregation to understand music is 
another important consideration. ‘To sing an anthem by 
Danks to a highly cultivated audience, accustomed to hear 
the most artistic music in the world in the concert room, 
would be as foolish as to render a Bach Passion cantata 
to a rural congregation of few musical privileges. In a 
paper read before a church congress, Sir Joseph Barnby 
maintained “that the music of every church must be 
such as the congregation can appreciate—that in fact 
the musical ability of the church must be the standard 
of selection.” 

It is not merely a question of grade of difficulty, but one 
of the modes of thought due to different education. A 
thoroughly popular American congregation will enjoy 
emphatic rhythms that would be offensive to another con- 
gregation of perhaps the same general intelligence, made 
up largely of German or English immigrants accustomed 
to a more sedate and conventional style of church music. 

The type of piety has also much to do with it; a stirring, 
aggressive, emotional Methodist congregation demands an 
entirely different style from that in use in its neighbouring 
equally pious but more staid and decorous Lutheran 
church. 

The temporary moods of the congregation should also 











THE SELECTION OF MUSIC 281 


be studied and an effort made to give them appropriate 
expression or needed treatment. In times of prosperity 
the anthems should breathe a spirit of thanksgiving and 
praise; when an unusual spiritual interest pervades the 
people, care should be taken to have texts making much of 
Jesus Christ and the soul’s relations with Him; if a mis- 
sionary enthusiasm is moving the leaders of the church, 
anthems sympathising with this aggressive attitude should 
be selected; should there be an unusual amount of afflic- 
tion and sorrow in the congregation, something expressive 
of the human need of divine help, or some of the comfort- 
ing promises that console and cheer, will be appreciated. 

It must always be remembered that in the singing of its 
set music the choir is the representative of the church. As 
such representative, or mouthpiece, of the assembled peo- 
ple, it ought to express what the congregation desires to 
have expressed or the representative character is lost. 
The impulse that leads musical authorities to cultivate a 
class of music above the comprehension and sympathy of 
the congregation as a whole, is born of the same motive 
that led to the conducting of the church service in Latin, 
and is equally wide of the purpose. 

d, Its Adaptation to the Several Services. The nature 
of the several services must be taken into account in the 
selection of their music. The stated morning service will 
call for a more dignified style of music than the more 
popular evening service. A series of evangelistic Sunday 
evening services will call for even a more popular, that is, 
rhythmical and emotional, sort of music. 

The selection should not be too rigidly scheduled far in 
advance. There may be omitted or unsuccessful rehear- 
sals due to illness or bad weather or careless attendance. 
Changes in the pastor’s plans will occur that will affect the 
choice of the music. There is need of freedom to adapt 


282 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


the music to unexpected needs, and hence opportunity for 
changes of plans should be left. It may be a High School 
Baccalaureate sermon, a temperance or law-enforcement 
meeting, a foreign or home mission address by a visiting 
secretary, a patriotic or municipal address before some 
visiting society, a church convention, an annual confer- 
ence, or a meeting of the presbytery or classis, or a coun- 
cil of churches with special evening services, or a score of 
other occasions where the choir is expected to contribute 
to the general interest. Many of them are scheduled well 
in advance, but others come up so suddenly that appro- 
priate music cannot be secured on the spur of the moment. 
Reserve material already provided will save the day. 

There are certain recurring seasonable needs in every 
church and they ought to be provided for long in advance. 
To wait with the selection of Christmas music until the 
second week in December is criminal negligence in any 
case, but particularly so where the mails are the one means 
of securing samples and chosen music. Samples should 
be ordered in good time, a selection made, and the final 
order promptly given, and then there will be plenty of 
time to rehearse properly. Where the church year is 
strictly observed, the selection of music is somewhat sim- 
plified, but even in this case foresight and promptness will 
prove all-important. 

e. Other Important Considerations. There are several 
other important considerations that should be borne in 
mind in the selection of the music of the choir. 

The purpose of the anthem is to make a religious im- 
pression, to express and stimulate religious feelings. No 
other purpose or motive should be considered for one 
moment. The acid test of any anthem must ever be, what 
religious stimulus will it exert upon the mind and heart of 
the hearer? No matter how technically interesting, how 





THE SELECTION OF MUSIC 283 


artistically pleasing, what opportunity for vocal or instru- 
mental display it provides, an anthem that does not prom- 
ise to produce a distinctly religious effect upon the hearer 
by its text, and by the musical expression of it, should be 
rejected forthwith. 

In this connection it should be emphasised that in the 
choice of anthems there should be no narrowness of 
standard and no egotistical emphasis of personal likes and 
dislikes. 

It has been suggested that the pastor should be asked to 
join in the selection of the choir music. ‘The anthem and 
other music of the choir should not only harmonise in text 
and spirit with the rest of the service, but produce the 
exact nervous, emotional, religious effects needed at the 
exact time when they are rendered. The music must take 
up the impression already produced and make progress in 
the evolution of the service towards the succeeding item 
of the schedule. 

If the pastor is aggressively evangelistic, seeking to in- 
crease his congregation by attracting unchurched people, 
and winning them to a religious life, a more emotional and 
rhythmical style of music must prevail. If special services 
are in view, evangelistic anthems, Gospel songs and men’s 
quartets will be sought. On the other hand, the pastor 
who emphasises the divine injunction, “ feed my sheep,” 
and looks after those already in the church and its fami- 
lies, will prefer a quieter, more contemplative line of 
anthems. 

Artistic value is by no means to be ignored. In provid- 
ing for musically cultivated congregations, it is a very im- 
portant factor. But it should not be considered for its 
own sake, but for the sake of the religious impression it 
makes upon the congregation. 

The ends of art and the ends of worship make a diffi- 


\ 


284 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


cult team to drive. It usually happens that the former 
takes the bit between its teeth and runs away with the 
service? The elder Carl Engel, in his “ Reflections on 
Church Music,” issued in 1856, stated the case very 
clearly: “It must not be forgotten that what is the best 
music in the church, is not always that which is the best, 
merely musically considered, but rather that which best 
promotes the chief object of divine worship.” 


5. AVOIDING THE PurcHASE of NEw Music 


a. Inventory and Organisation of Music in Hand. If 
the director will look through the stores of music already 
in the choir’s possession, as has already been suggested, he 
may find a good deal of music, either unused or long since 
forgotten, that will suit his present purposes. ‘That will 
ease the severe pressure on his none too ample budget. A 
filing case and perhaps a bookcase, should be an inevitable 
part of the choir’s furniture. The octavos or choir jour- 
nals should have a strong manilla case for each issue with 
a place on the back giving title and name of composer. 
Space should be allowed for the dates when the anthem 
has been sung. ‘These individual cases may be purchased 
of various sizes. A sectional bookcase of the right dimen- 
sions may be used as a place of storage. 

b. Repeating Anthems. In many choirs it would raise 
the average quality of their work if they would repeat an 
anthem occasionally. It should not be done too often, 
else the choir will lay itself open to the charge of laziness. 
But when requests for the repetition of an anthem come 
in, or when an anthem aptly fits into some service that the 


*“ The radical difference between music outside the church, and 
music inside the church is that the one is ‘art for art’s sake,’ 
while the other is art applied to the furtherance of Christian 
worship.”—Waldo S. Pratt in “ Parish Problems.” 


THE SELECTION OF MUSIC 285 


pastor and director are building, there should be no hesi- 
tation in repeating. It will call for a fresh rehearsal, of 
course, but the choir will likely sing it better than they did 
the first time. 


6. CHOOSING THE Music To BE SUNG 


So much has been said incidentally on this point that 
only a few considerations need to be urged here. 

a. It Must Be Appropriate to the Occasion. The occa- 
sion is a complex made up of the spirit of the service, the 
message it is to convey, its general or special character, the 
responsive capacity of the congregation, and the ability of 
the choir to render it effectively. 

b. Fitness for the Particular Place in the Service. It is 
not only a question of its general appropriateness for a 
particular service, but of its minute fitness for the special 
place where it is sung. Dr. Waldo S. Pratt, in his 
“ Musical Ministries,” well says: “ None of these should 
be placed at any point in the service without careful con- 
sideration of its fitness and effectiveness in connection 
with what precedes and follows it. What may be most 
valuable as a climax of several acts of prayer and praise, 
when the feelings of the people have been stirred into 
enthusiasm, may be totally inapt and useless as an intro- 
ductory exercise. The elaborate anthems often placed in 
the forefront of a service, being in no sense prepara- 
tory, but rather confirmatory or completive, naturally 
degenerate into the ‘show-pieces’ that they are vulgarly 
supposed to be. All such pieces should be imbedded 
in the body of the service, where the connection with 
the acts of congregational prayer and praise may be 
obvious.” 

c. Singing Favourite Hymns. In general, the writer 
does not believe in hymns being sung by the choir, except 


286 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


as the texts of anthems and solos. The congregational 
hymn is the inalienable property of the congregation. But 
there are some hymns with quite emotional tunes that can 
be made more effective by the choir than by the congrega- 
tion. It is really astonishing how much can be made of 
them by giving special attention to expression growing out 
of the meaning of the text. Take, for example, “ Abide 
with Me” (Eventide) ; there is so much variety of feeling 
in the different verses, and the music lends itself to such 
varied treatment, that it will well repay careful and minute 
study and a very thorough rehearsal. The same may be 
said of “ Rock of Ages” (Toplady), “I Heard the Voice 
of Jesus Say” (Vox Dilecti), “ My Faith Looks Up to 
Thee” (Olivet), “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded ” 
(Munich), and many others among the standard tunes, 
and “I Need Thee Every Hour,” “ Safe in the Arms of 
Jesus,” “ Day is Dying in the West,” and many others of 
the Gospel songs. This study of expression in standard 
hymn tunes and Gospel songs has one great incidental 
value: the choir singers know the music fairly well, as far 
as the notes themselves are concerned; they need not, 
therefore, glue their eyes on the printed pages, but can 
give their major attention to the director. 

d. Selections for the Communion Service. While we 
have no criticism for those who prefer a silent communion 
service, broken only by the minister’s solemn words of 
introduction to each of its sections, or by his reciting ap- 
propriate texts, we do believe the routine may at least 
occasionally be broken by the singing by the choir of ap- 
propriate hymns or sentences. These should be rendered 
very softly and shouldbe varied in character. To always 
sing “ Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me” and “ Alas, and Did 
My Saviour Bleed ” is a sign of mental barrenness or lack 
of thoughtful preparation for the supreme act of devotion 


THE SELECTION OF MUSIC 287 


in the Protestant church. Such hymns as “ Love Divine, 
All Loves Excelling,” “ Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me,” “ Just 
as I Am,” “O Love, That Wilt Not Let Me Go,” are en- 
tirely fitting, as much so as “ Bread of Heaven, on Thee 
We Feed,” “ Till He Come, Oh, Let the Words,” “ There 
is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” or “In the Cross of 
Christ I Glory.” 

The choir may co-operate with the pastor in varying the 
character of the communion service from time to time. 
To stereotype the service simply as a reverent, solemn, 
somewhat depressing ceremony is to miss its possibilities. 
It may be sad and tender in its sympathy with the mental 
and spiritual sufferings of Christ, or it may be solemnly 
joyous or even triumphant in spirit over His accomplished 
task of salvation. Again there may be a poignant con- 
sciousness of sin ending in the joyous conviction of sins 
forgiven. Many other aspects of the service will occur to 
a pastor who has the open vision. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. What consultation should precede the purchase of new music? 

. In what three forms may choir music be secured? 

. State the advantages and disadvantages of each. 

. How should it be selected ? 

. State five important factors in selection. 

. Why are texts important? 

. In what respects should the music be adapted to the choir? 

. What considerations must be observed regarding the con- 
gregation? 

. How does the nature of the several services condition the 
selection ? 

. What other factors enter into the selection? 

. How may the purchase of new music often be avoided? 

. What considerations obtain in selecting the music to be sung? 

. How can the choir utilise favourite hymns and Gospel songs? 

. What lines of variety in the selection of music for com- 
munion services may be pursued? 


COON AON WD 


\o 


a 
& WN © 


XXIII 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 


Class Room Suggestions: Make arrangements with three or 
four of the most competent choir directors in the community to 
permit the members of the class, either individually or collectively, 
to attend their rehearsals; insist on such visits and make reports 
obligatory. 


1. PREPARATION FOR THE REHEARSAL 


Having considered the personnel of the choir and its 
organisation, let us now take up its varied activities. 
There is no more important phase of its work than its 
rehearsal. 

a. Place of Rehearsal, Usually this should be held in 
the church, although there may be good reasons for hold- 
ing it elsewhere. If a small room is available in the church 
edifice, it may be furnished with a heater, chairs, and a 
piano, for rehearsals in cold weather when it is difficult to 
heat the choir loft. It is a crime to ask a choir to sing in 
a cold room, where every breath taken in singing throws 
cold air upon the excited and susceptible air passages in 
head and throat. How often the Sunday’s work is nearly 
ruined by the illness of important singers who caught cold 
at choir rehearsal. If the church cannot be properly 
heated, the choir had better meet in a private home. Re- 
hearsal at private homes has some social advantages that 
are valuable. The gathering is less official and more per- 
sonal, and there is greater social freedom, but discipline 
will be more difficult to sustain. It may be well to have a 
portable organ for this purpose, as pianos are not always 
available or in tune. 


288 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 289 


b. Time of Rehearsal. The time of rehearsal should be 
Saturday evening or Friday evening, or possibly Saturday 
late afternoon, according to the convenience of the sing- 
ers. The time elapsing between the rehearsal and the 
services should be as short as possible in order that the 
impressions of the music should be as fresh as possible. 
Once settled upon, it should be unalterably fixed, except 
in the case of a Tokio earthquake or a Dayton flood. 

c. Attendance at Rehearsal and Service. ‘There must be 
a full attendance at rehearsals. It need not be emphasised 
that singers who do not practise cannot sing confidently 
and spontaneously, no matter how well they read. One of 
the director’s chief tasks is to get his singers out to prac- 
tice. Sense of duty must be developed by private and 
public admonition. Just an exercise of sheer will force, a 
setness of attitude that the choir members must come, is 
often a means of bringing them out. In critical cases the 
telephone will be a great help. 

Leading voices in the several parts should be impressed 
that their presence is essential at rehearsals and service. 

Where failure of singers to be present at the rehearsals 
is common, it is a good rule never to sing an anthem that 
has not been practised at enough rehearsals to give every 
singer a chance of becoming at least more or less familiar 
with it. To do this, you may need to have four or five 
numbers in progress of rehearsal all the time, but it is 
worth while. There is no doubt that with the average 
volunteer choirs four or five short rehearsals on an anthem 
will get more spontaneity into the singing of it than one 
long one. 

d. The Instrument Used at Rehearsals. As most re- 
hearsals are held in the church, the organ will be the log- 
ical instrument to use. As the choir sings with it on 
Sunday the singers will be accustomed to that support, and 


290 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


the organist can try out his proposed registration of stops 
and the appropriate use of the Swell pedal. But the 
organ, like charity, covers a multitude of choral sins and 
does not convey to the singers the rhythmical suggestion 
and urge that are often needed. For the purpose of re- 
hearsal the piano is a much more efficient instrument. 
The tone not being sustained, the director is able to get 
the quality of the tone, as well as the false notes sung 
by the voices under him. In animated rhythmical num- 
bers the piano is more suggestive of the proper accents 
and time. A dragging, listless choir should practice with 
the piano. 

e. The Director's Code of Signals. A definite code of 
signals is very desirable. A cres. or dim., a rit. or accel., 
will call for no words; the proper signal suffices. ‘The 
same is true of sf., stac., sost., and a tempo. The code 
should not be too extensive. There should be too few 
rather than too many signals. It should be formally 
taught and practiced, first by word of mouth, then in 
actual practice, until its use becomes a matter of instinct 
with both leader and choir. 

The code must be formed by each director to suit him- 
self and his choir. Only a few suggestions are in order 
here. ‘The extent of the sweep of the right hand will 
express the gradations of force from pp to ff. Smooth, 
quiet beating will express legato or gracioso. Sharp, 
snappy beating will signify stac. attack. The closed fist 
will indicate sf. or force marks. The open, repellent hand 
will signify dim. where a quick change is desired. Spread 
fingers with a shaking of the hand will express dim. even 
more forcibly. The hand pointing down with strong 
motion will express sudden cres. Largando will call for 
wide gestures and broad open hand. ‘The half-closed 
hand, fingers pointing downward with short, sharp beats, 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 291 


will express a dainty stacc. The opening and closing hand 
will control a swell. 

These signals may well be transferred to the left hand 
and made more elaborate and clear. 

It may be that a standardised code has been accepted in 
the community, under the direction of some leading con- 
ductor ; if so, it will be easier for the singers to use it with 
such additions as the work and the individuality of the 
director may demand. 

A metronome should not be used except under special 
circumstances. It is too mechanical, too soulless, too 
rigid. 

f. Music Prepared by Director and Organist. Of 
course, the selections to be practiced are already made and 
both leader and organist have them well in hand. ‘The 
difficult places in each of the several parts have been noted 
and the exact measures that need to be rehearsed over and 
over again exactly determined, so that no time may be 
wasted in singing over measures that are easy. If there 
are solos, the persons who are to sing them have been 
selected, and, if they do not read music well, have been 
notified of their appointment in order that they may be 
prepared with their part. 

g. Distribution of Music. The librarian should come 
early enough to distribute the music to be used, on the 
seats or racks of the singers, in the order they are to be 
called up by the director. Of course, the librarian will 
have been informed of the director’s plans. 

h. The Use of the Baton. ‘There are some modest di- 
rectors who shrink from the use of a baton in directing, 
because they feel it would be an assumption of profes- 
sional status out of keeping with their modest amateur 
pretensions. The baton is a very useful little instrument. 
The sharp rap of the stick will override the general 


292 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


babble of voices at the beginning of the practice, or 
after a pause, much more promptly than the director’s 
voice, and with indefinitely more dignity. Order can 
be kept in the choir with much less friction. Is there 
carelessness, or inattention, or talking, the stick, with 
its rapping, can scold with less danger of giving offense 
than the director’s voice. The regular click of the 
baton will often give a sense of time and of rhythm, and 
correct an irregularity, or confusion, that cannot be done 
in any other way. If the singing of the choir is to be 
stopped suddenly for any reason, the tap of the baton will 
be effective. The baton is an emblem of authority, like 
the sceptre of a monarch. If the director is unusually 
modest, he need not secure a rosewood or mahogany 
article—any stick will do! 

i. The Beating of the Time. The director should make 
a careful study of beating the time. It may be a great 
help or a distinctly confusing hindrance. His beating of 
time and other signals should be absolutely clear to the 
choir. A good many leaders make a lot of unmeaning 
gesticulations that not only have no value in themselves, 
but actually submerge the few that have. The right hand 
should be used to beat the time, down, left, right, up or 
down, left, up, etc., as the case may be. Where the 
rhythm is involved, the beats may be divided, giving two 
strokes to each beat. But this should be done only in 
certain involved phrases, not as a general rule. The left 
hand may indicate the force by a series of signals which 
should be thoroughly worked out by the director and 
clearly understood by the choir. 

j. The Seating of Singers. The placing of the choir is 
usually settled by persons who are not competent to render 
an opinion—the building committee and the architect. In- 
stead of giving ample room for a chorus, we have a small’ 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 293 


space adapted only for a quartet choir, or a narrow space 
clear across the church for a single row of singers. ‘The 
choir should be seated between the pulpit and the organ as 
compactly as possible, on the sides of a bowl-shaped space, 
not too steep, creating with the organ a complete musical 
unit. In one church, with which the writer is familiar, the 
choir and organ are back of the pulpit and compact enough, 
but twenty feet above the preacher! The one or the other 
side of the preacher is often utilised with good results. 

While it is not essential, in general, it is better to have 
the sopranos and tenors to the left of the leader, and the 
altos and basses to the right. Where the men are few, 
they may be put in front and so help the balance of parts. 
The rule having been made, let it be inflexibly adhered to, 
as avoiding waste of time in discussion and readjustment. 
If the chorus is well organised, the firsts and seconds in 
each part should sit separately, so that in case of passages 
for men’s and women’s voices they may be sung without 
stopping a moment for reorganisation. 

As far as possible, every member of the choir should 
have his exclusive seat, which should be changed only for 
substantial reasons. If a singer is seated next to some one 
with whom he is not intimate, so much the better—there 
will be less talking. The director knows just where each 
of his singers is to be found. All these contribute to un- 
distracted, undisturbed attention to the work in hand. 

k. Opening the Rehearsal with Prayer. It is not usual 
to begin a rehearsal with prayer, but, if it be devout and 
genuine, it ought to be a great help in securing the right 
spiritual purpose in the choir. When political conventions 
open their sessions with prayer; why not a choir? ‘The 
evil spirit of secularity, which does so much to rob choirs 
of their practical efficiency, would be banished by such a 
recognition of the religious purpose of the evening’s work. 


294: THE CHURCH CHOIR 


But it is better not to have any prayer, if it is purely 
mechanical and perfunctory. Yet, if the choir itself is not 
spiritually minded, the pastor may attend in person and 
by his own opening prayer kindle the lacking spiritual 
interest. 

I. Beginning on Time. The ideal rehearsal begins 
promptly on time. No matter what singers are absent, no 
matter if the organist is absent, begin on time. If no sub- 
stitute organist is at hand, sing without an instrument. It 
is excellent training. In a short time you will have little 
trouble with tardiness, and much valuable time will be 
saved. 

m. The Length of the Rehearsal. If the choir attends 
strictly to business and wastes no time, if the selections are 
practicable ones within the capacity of the choir, it ought 
to be able to master one new anthem, put the finishing 
touches on two others previously rehearsed, prepare the 
responses and practice the hymms, in a session of an hour 
and a half. In preparing music for special occasions, 
more time may be used. 

Rehearsal for an hour should not be interrupted. In 
passing from one anthem to another, only a minimum of 
time should be lost, lest momentum and concentration be 
dissipated. Then a short intermission of five minutes 
may be allowed to rest the voices preparatory for the addi- 
tional thirty minutes of rehearsal. This intermission may 
occur, of course, at any time when the voices show signs 
of fatigue. Do not lose momentum; fill the time with 
business or with discussions of the work to be done. 

n. The Rehearsal a Time of Work. ‘The time that can 
be given to choir practice is so limited that its every mo- 
ment should be efficiently employed; not a single second 
should be lost. The music being already selected and in 
the singers’ hands not a moment should be spent in talking 





THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 295 


of what should be sung. The organist should not be al- 
lowed to waste the time of the choir playing “ stunts.” In 
no case should soloists be permitted to take up time prac- 
ticing their parts; that should be done before or after 
rehearsal, or at home. ‘The director should confine his 
remarks specifically to the work in hand and take only 
time enough to make his directions clear. Everything 
should be business, every atom of energy being concen- 
trated upon the accomplishment of the task in hand. 

0. Extra Rehearsals. (1) When extra rehearsals are 
needful, why not appoint some other hour during the day 
instead of asking a sacrifice of a whole evening? From 
five to half-past six or from six to half-past seven, or 
three-quarters of an hour at noon at the Y. M. C. A. or 
some studio, or other central point, might be much more 


_ convenient to many members of the choir. 


(2) Instead of asking the whole choir to attend, why 


not have a special rehearsal for the less trained and de- 
ficient singers (it may be personal as well as collective), 
_ to study the particular passages they find difficult. 


(3) Take special pains to make these extra rehearsals 
unusually interesting, spirited and efficient. If a private 
home is open and a hospitable light refreshment is of- 
fered, a quarter of an hour of social life will be time 


_ well spent. 


2. THE TRAINING SECTION OF THE REHEARSAL 


There should be on the part of both the director and the 
choir a conscious ambition to improve and to excel in their 


work. No better stimulus can be found. 


A choir can be improved in three ways: (1) By replac- 
ing poor voices with good ones. (2) By training the 
singers already in the choir. (3) By securing more accu- 
rate and dependable note reading. 


296 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


Soloists of practical efficiency, if not of consummate 
artistry, may be developed out of voices now only heard in 
the chorus. Ability to sing second soprano or second 
tenor may be brought out by a little training, preparing 
the way for women’s and men’s quartets or choruses. 
Greater skill in varied expression and a more spontaneous 
style are merely a matter of more practice directed more 
intelligently. 

a. Breath Control. In breath control there are three 
important elements: deep breathing, control of expiration 
in time and force, and taking breath at the proper places. 

To secure the first two the breathing muscles of the 
sides and back must be developed and strengthened. A 
two-minute exercise in merely breathing deeply and allow- 
ing the air to escape as slowly as possible without singing 
will do good service. ‘This should be done to illustrate 
how the singers can help the development of their lungs 
by silent breathing exercises at odd moments. Indeed, 
unless they do this, the few minutes per week will have 
little value. ‘Then five minutes may be given to breathing 
with the voice sounding the normal G, again calling for 
deep breathing and the slowest possible expiration of 
breath. The scale may then be sung, with a single breath. 
Then there may be the singing of an easy hymn tune with 
as few breaths as possible, using the vowel “ah,” not the 
hymn. In the practice of the music there may be occa- 
sionally a request to sing a whole phrase or even a passage 
with a single breath. There may be .some calisthenic 
exercises devoted exclusively to the enlargement of the 
chest, to be practised every day. 

‘The singer punctuates his music by the pauses he makes 
to draw breath. This drawing of breath must be done at 
the end of the phrases, not in the middle of them, else the 
musical meaning is disturbed. Where the phrase is a long 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 297 


one, a comma, so to speak, may be inserted at the end of 
one of its subsections by stealing a partial inhalation. 

Karleton Hackett, in “ The Etude,” lays down a prin- 
ciple in taking breath that should be remembered. ‘‘ No 
matter how well developed the breathing apparatus may 
be, a certain amount of time is required for a proper in- 
halation. ‘Therefore, this required time must be allowed 
for, and in some way that will not disturb the rhythm of 
the music. In songs there will be phrase after phrase in 
which the notes are continuous with no rests between; and 
yet the singer must somewhere take breath. What is the 
rule? You must take your breathing time from the last 
note of the phrase you are ending. In the rhythm of the 
music it makes no difference whether you hold the final 
note its full value or not; but if you do not attack the 
next note exactly on the beat the rhythm accent will be 
destroyed.” 

The breathing not only punctuates the text, but brings 
out the phrasing in the music. 

Prof. Herm. von Berge, in the editorial columns of the 
“Choir Leader,” puts the matter clearly. “To breathe at 
the wrong place is a very disturbing thing, yet it is very 
commonly done. There are ever so many singers in our 
choirs who would not hesitate about taking a breath in the 
very heart of a word and right in between its syllables, 
something they would never think of doing when they 
speak. Yet, in singing, the King’s English is chopped up 
any old way, and one constantly hears such mutilations as, 
for instance, “ Jesus, Lov- (breath) ver of My Soul.” To 
take breath so carelessly makes much of the singing 
utterly without sense. 

“ Correct phrasing must be a matter of individual effort 
above all. The soloist should give particular attention to 
it. In studying a solo, it may be well to mark all the 


298 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


breathing places with great care and then observe them 
rigidly. If the singer as yet lacks the experience to mark 
his copy, the choir leader ought to do it for him when 
assigning the solo. 

“ Not only the soloist, but the whole choir, needs to ob- 
serve the right breathing places. It may sometimes be 
necessary for him to mark the copies for correct phrasing 
carefully before rehearsing the number. An experienced 
director can indicate the little breathing pauses by the 
way he leads, if the choir is trained to watch for these 
indications.” 

b. Voice Training. Another equally important line of 
training is the production of a good tone. Purity of tone, 
exactness of pitch steadily held, are of prime importance. 
The nerves of the larynx must be strengthened so as to 
grip the pitch firmly and hold it steadily without a waver. 
Where this is absent there may be an unconscious tremolo, 
Or a minute sagging of the pitch differing in degree in 
the several voices, and so producing a roughness and 
uncertainty of pitch that is distressing. The tone is also 
spoiled by wrong methods of singing that affect the 
overtones, eliminating the lower ones and so sharpening 
the voice. 

The choir director, therefore, should make one of his 
chief and preliminary objectives the securing of good, 
pure tone from his choir, using sustained detached chords, 
simple hymn tunes, or easy familiar anthems in order to 
focus attention on the quality and sustained perfect pitch 
of the tone. 

Occasionally choirs are heard where strident, forced 
tones are extremely distressing. The leader of such a 
choir ought to stop and listen and realise its shortcomings 
in quality of tone and then proceed to correct them as far 
as that can be done. Likely there are individual yoices 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 299 


that need to be either trained or eliminated, as the case 
may be. 

If the director does not understand voice training, it 
might be wise to incite the choir to invite some competent 
trainer to meet with them for a dozen lessons and provide 
for his fee by voluntary subscription.1 

Another line of training is to increase the flexibility of 
the voices by singing rapid exercises, beginning slowly and 
increasing the speed as fast as they are sung accurately 
and smoothly. The regular scale may be used for this 
purpose, using the syllable “ah” and the scales of C and 
D, so as to keep within the common range of all the voices. 
Passages from the “ Messiah ” may be written on a black- 
board and sung until the normal tempo for them is se- 
cured in a smooth and accurate way. 

No better training for both voice and ear can be found 
than the singing of the chromatic scale. It should be sung 
slowly at first, taking great pains that it be sung correctly 
from note to note. 

c. The Blending of Voices. Special attention should be 
given by the director to the perfect blending of the voices 
of his singers. They should be each admonished to listen 
to the singing of the rest and to make a conscious effort 
to be absolutely true in pitch and in quality of tone. In 
chords that are held, the choir should sustain the tone 
without wavering, imitating the steadiness of the tone of 
the organ. Indeed, this “‘ organ tone ” is indispensable to 
the best singing. 

There should be special exercises to attain this perfect 
unity of pitch and of quality of tone. Chords can be writ- 


*“ Collective Voice Training,” by D, A. Clippinger, J. S. Fearis 
& Brother, Chicago, publishers, is an excellent book on_ this 
subject, 


300 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


ten on the blackboard (an indispensable article of furni- 
ture in the rehearsal) and sung by the choir, for a whole 
breath without accompaniment. Each voice must be in 
perfect tune, without wavering. Of course, there must be 
absolute unanimity in the instant passing from one chord 
to another. 

All this must be done with the alert co-operation of the 
choir members in listening intently and controlling their 
voices. ‘The final quality of this blending is reached in 
spontaneous ease and emotional driving force, due to the 
unification of all the singers in feeling and will. 

It cannot be emphasised too much that a choir should 
sing as a unit and not as a lot of individuals. Are the 
syllables started as one voice, are the consonants sounded 
together, are the rests observed alike? Are the variations 
of tempo and force perfectly observed together ? 

It is not easy for a choir leader to be sure about this 
while the individual members of the choir are right around 
him. A good way to study this problem, wherever it is a 
problem, is to have the choir sing while the choir leader 
stands at the back of the church. 

A good rule is to finish the practice on an anthem by 
singing it in this way. The choir leader who does this for 
the first time will be surprised how different the work of 
the choir seems from what he had supposed. 

d. Special Difficulties in Blending. Huskiness will pre- 
vent pure tone, hence defeat good blending. Sometimes 
taking a small drink of cold water, drawing the blood 
from the larynx to the esophagus and stomach will allay 
it. When due to a cold, the singer should be excused for 
his own sake as well as that of the music. 

Huskiness is often imaginary, or it may be induced by 
nervous depression due to worry or anxiety. These may 
bring an excessive salivation, or dryness of the throat, or 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 301 


a contraction of the muscles of the throat, which will pro- 
duce actual huskiness. Calmness of mind, and a good 
grip on one’s nerves, are the best cure for most huskiness. 

There can be no blending where portamento is allowed, 
for the singers cannot slide together from one tone to 
another. It is only allowable to soloists in cases of ex- 
treme hysterical passion, and should be rooted out of a 
choir without relenting. 

The tremolo is even more common, and, if it were pos- 
sible, more vulgar and offensive to good taste. Singers 
who have this tremolo disease have no business in a choir ; 
there can be no perfect blending of the voices where it is 
allowed. 

The objections to continuous vibrato are: (1) It is a 
pretense of emotion that does not exist, a sheer hypocrisy ; 
(2) it prevents proper blending of voices in quartet or 
chorus work; (3) it spoils the singer’s ear for true pitch; 
(4) it sooner or later ruins the voice, the laryngeal nerves 
losing their power to steadily hold the chords to any 
given pitch. 

e. Special Forms of Singing. Good unison singing has 
its own difficulties. The tune is more easily learned, but 
the difficulty is in getting good team work. ‘There must 
be the melting together of the many voices into one voice ; 
the attack of every tone must be absolutely at the same 
instant ; each note must be held for its exact length of time 
and dropped at the same instant; expression must be ob- 
served by every singer to the same degree; the enunciation 
of the syllables, the attack and dropping of every vocable 
must be perfectly together. It is not as hard as it sounds, 
but it does take practice and very careful painstaking 
practice at that. 

In recent choir music there are frequently humming 
vocal accompaniments. The effects are sometimes similar 


302 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


to those secured in an orchestra by muting the strings. 
There should be little or no breath pressure and no con- 
striction of the throat. The “hum” should be sung with 
the lips almost apart. The tone should be steady and 
pure and musical. A limited range of dynamic effects 
can be produced, but usually the humming is piano and 
plantssimo. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1, Where should the choir rehearsal be held? 

2. What is the best time for holding rehearsals? 

3. How shall full attendance be secured? 

4. What is the most efficient instrument for rehearsal? 

5. Why is a code of signals important? 

6. Suggest a simple code for the director’s use. 

7. What preliminary work should be done by director and 

organist? 

8. Why is a baton desirable? 

9. How should the time of various measures be beaten? 

10. Where should the choir be placed? 

11. How should the several parts be seated? 

12. Should the rehearsal be opened with prayer? 

13. How long should the rehearsal be continued? 

14. When should extra rehearsals be held? 

15. How can a choir be improved? 

16. What three important elements are there in breath control? 
17. What exercise may be used to secure deep breathing? 

18. How does proper breathing affect the text? How the music? 
19. What voice training is practicable in a choir? 
20. How can good voice blending be secured? 
21. What special difficulties are met in developing good voice 

blending? 

22. How does the tremolo habit ruin a voice? 
23. What is essential to good unison singing? 
24. How secure good humming? 


XXIV 
THE CHOIR REHEARSAL (Concrupep) 


f. Enunciation. The mumbling of some choirs is an 
aggravation to intelligent listeners who realise that there 
is no excuse for music in church except as an accompani- 
ment for religious ideas. What would be the fate of the 
preacher who, because of poor articulation, failed to make 
himself understood? The same sort of vacancy should 
occur in the case of a choir director who through careless- 
ness or lack of intelligence allows his choir to scamp 
the words. 

It is fully granted that it is more difficult to enunciate 
clearly when singing than when speaking, but for that 
very reason there should be the conscious and determined 
effort to bring out the meaning of the words that are sung. 
Music is religious only where it is associated with religious 
words; when those religious words cannot be understood 
the music becomes unreligious. 

Instead of the enunciation being clear, and the articula- 
tion distinct, there are gaps in the middle of a word and 
an absurd running together of syllables of different words. 
“ A gracious, swilling guest” for “a gracious, willing 
guest,” “Those contrite tarts,” “Come for tea, my peo- 
ple,” “Upp, pup, ye heirs of glory,” are some of the 
crimes in articulation that would raise a smile, if they 
were not so serious. 

Indistinct pronunciation is due to bad automatic action 
of the lips and tongue. Good automatic action must be 


303 


304 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


substituted for the bad by conscious effort in securing 
actual, clear enunciation until the good pronunciation be- 
comes unconscious—a good habit! This may be done in 
the choir rehearsal. 

It may be that the singers do not pronounce the words 
together, and so confuse the sounds. Again, they may be 
so intent on the character of the sound they are producing 
in singing that they fail to finish the articulation of each 
consonantal sound. It may be they open their mouths too 
wide in exploiting the vowels to make clear enunciation 
possible: or the very opposite, that they sing with nearly 
closed mouths held so rigidly that again the consonants 
are scamped. 

The bad enunciation of some singers is due to their bad 
enunciation in speaking. It is a bad fault whether in talk- 
ing in the social circle, or singing in a choir. Reading out 
loud with most earnest effort persistently applied to ar- 
ticulate clearly has helped many singers. Directors must 
persist in insisting on clear enunciation until the habit is 
formed. 

The need of clear enunciation must be sharply and per- 
sistently impressed until it reaches the subconsciousness. 
Familiar things may be sung with special attention to the 
consonants. Anthem texts may be read in concert and 
attention drawn to the mumbled syllables. 

The full time of the beat should be given to the vowel 
sounds, while the consonants are quickly but clearly pro- 
nounced. The sibilant sounds should be as unobtrusive as 
possible, as they are penetrating and do not carry a musi- 
cal tone. All words ending in Y should be pronounced 
ee, not ay. 

Constant attention to the understandability of the words 
should be given during the rehearsal. The attention of 
intelligent members of the congregation should be directed 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 805 


to this phase of the singing and the reports passed on to 
the choir. 

g. Aitack and Release. The training section of the re- 
hearsal may well be turned on the attack and release at the 
beginning and end, not only of anthems and movements, 
but also of shorter passages and phrases. The attack 
should be sharp, every voice beginning at the same instant, 
not straggling in one by one. The same attention should 
be given the release, so that it becomes instantaneous with 
all voices. 

h. Expression Should Be Studied. It is the rare choir 
that does not need training in obeying the expression 
marks printed with the music they sing. Such training 
would greatly lighten the effort of the director when he 
comes to study, with the choir, the varying force and 
tempo of his anthems, in what we call expression. 

He will give them a lesson on the metronome until the 


marking ; == 60 or A = 96 or d = 120 will give them 
an approximate idea of its time value. This is all the 
more important that these markings are very much more 
exact than the Italian tempo directions. ‘These Italian 
words should also be carefully analysed, so as to get their 
relative values. The choir should be able to tell at a 
glance at them, approximately at least what tempo is to 
be expected from the movement to which they are to be 
prefixed, from prestissimo down to grave. The marks of 
variation of a tempo, accel., rit., molto rit., rall., riten., 
meno mosso, piu mosso, should all be carefully prac- 
ticed until the singers know what is expected of them as 
regards speed. 

Another like line of training will take up the values of 
PPP., pp., mp., m. mf., f., ff., and fff., as well as cres., 
molto cres., dim., molto dim., and rehearse the choir in the 
observance of them all. 


306 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


The marks of method of tone attack are equally impor- 
tant. Legato, staccato, sostenuto, sfz., force marks, pres- 
sure marks, ought all to be made familiar by thorough 
practice. The directions for quality of tone, con spirsto, 
con dolore, sombroso, and the like, should also have 
attention, 

i. Lessons in Note Reading. Where a fairly large part 
of the choir is unable to read notes readily, it may be well 
to give a series of lessons in musical notation and sight 
reading. It will do those who already follow the notes by 
location much good and even the sight readers will be glad 
to review and improve their knowledge. It may even be 
wise to start a class and invite to it the better singers 
among the young people. “If it is the duty of the people 
to sing, it is the church’s duty to teach them to sing.” 

j. The Religious Training of the Choir. Most choir 
directors take the spirituality of the members of their 
choirs for granted, but that is assuming too much. If the 
singers are to put emotional power into their musical ex- 
pression of the message, they must be something more 
than merely decently respectable members of the church. 
They must be spiritually minded ; they must be athrill with 
the beauty and glory and comfort of the Gospel they sing. 
The director must take or make opportunity at a rehearsal 
to lift the individual spiritual life and to kindle a growing 
delight in the service of praise and inspiration by a short 
but sincere and earnest appeal for a recognition of the 
deeper meaning of the work the singers are doing. 

The fear of seeming to indulge in “ cant” keeps many a 
devout choir director from impressing his choir with the 
profoundly religious nature of their work. What is 
“cant”? It is the merely mechanical repetition of stereo- 
typed phrases. They need not be religious phrases. We 
are a little inclined to be suspicious of the genuine re- 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 307 


ligiousness of church people who are quick to characterise 
religious talk as “ cant.” 

Lack of religious life in a choir is a serious matter. 
There can be no continuous sincerity in the singing with- 
out it. “It is well,” says Bunyan, “that the heart should 
be without words, rather than the words should be with- 
out heart.” 


3. LEARNING THE ANTHEM 


a. Assigning the Solos. The assignment of incidental 
solos in the anthem is usually a duty calling for tact and 
thoughtfulness. It will be shorn of its terrors if a solo 
quartet is the nucleus of the choir, or if the soloists are 
elected from month to month or from quarter to quarter. 
The solos should be arranged for as soon as the anthem is 
taken up, but, except obligatos, they need not be sung until 
the choir has learned its part. A given solo should always 
be sung by the person to whom it had been given origi- 
nally. ‘That will prevent invidious comparisons. 

b. Playing the Anthem Over. ‘The attention of the 
choir having been won and the selection having been an- 
nounced, the organist will proceed to play it through fairly 
softly, from the beginning to end, accompanied by such 
comments from the leader as to time and force as may 
seem necessary. Where the choir is made up of excellent 
readers, this may not be needed and can be omitted. An 
average volunteer choir will be very much helped by it. 

c. Learning the Notes. The choir, having heard the 
anthem played, having caught the tonality and spirit, 
having had a general impression of the themes and move- 
ments of the composition, should now be asked to sing it 
straight through. As they sing, the places where they 
stumble or break down should be marked for special prac- 
tice. The difficulties in the first movement should then be 


308 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


taken up and overcome, singing over the particular meas- 
ures that give trouble. Then sing the movement over 
several times to establish the connections of the difficult 
measures. In like manner study the other movements. 
Then the anthem as a whole can be taken up, giving 
special attention to smooth changes of tempo that may 
occur. What expression is given is merely incidental, so 
far. It may be well to drop the anthem now and take it 
up at the next rehearsal when the expression will be stud- 
ied. At the third rehearsal the finishing touches can be 
given it for use the following Sunday. 

It is not wise for the director to sing during the re- 
hearsal except in illustrating how he wishes a given meas- 
ure or passage to be sung. The singing director cannot 
hear the blunders that are made; his voice drowns them 
and his attention is too much directed to his own singing. 

If the choir singers find it easier to learn the notes by 
applying the syllable names, do, re, mi, etc., by all means 
encourage them to do so. The sacred text will not be 
worn stale before the study of expression begins. ‘Those 
who do not read by syllable need not be disturbed by 
those who do. 

d. Sparing the Voices. Needless weariness is produced 
by allowing a choir to sing too loud. It is trying to the 
voices to average forte throughout a rehearsal. Much of 
the drill on the notes can be taken on “ half-voice”’ at 
about mezzo. A purer tone will probably be produced and 
the reading will proceed with equal rapidity. ‘The voices 
will be less husky with fatigue when the study of the ex- 
pression is reached. 

e. Some General Suggestions. The director should not 
weary of saying things over and over in order to get them 
home to the singers’ minds; iteration and reiteration are 
the secret of successful teaching. 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 309 


He should insist on the singers watching his baton. 
The best work is impossible without it. 

Whatever the leader’s geniality may be in his personal 
relations to the singers, when he takes the baton to lead he 
becomes the rigid disciplinarian, with an eye single to the 
best obtainable musical and spiritual results. There 
should be an added dignity of office, a sense of the seri- 
ousness of the work to be done, an air of attending strictly 
to the business in hand, that will have great moral value 
in keeping the choir under control. 

The leader should have a very definite understanding 
that he is to be entirely free to criticise his choir, either 
collectively or individually, as need may require, without 
personal offense being taken. At the same time, the 
leader is under bonds not to allow the slightest element of 
personal feeling to enter into his correction. A singer 
who really needs sharp and unkind prodding, because of 
indifference, carelessness, or worse, should be replaced by 
some one else at the first opportunity, as he flats the note 
of kindliness in the choir. 

Where a serious purpose to do all that is possible is 
evident in a singer, but where there is a lack of quickness, 
or capacity, the leader should cultivate infinite patience. 

f. Incidental Voice Training. A great deal of voice 
training can be done incidentally during the practice of 
the anthems. Both voice and ear can be trained in the 
occasional chromatic passages that occur—indeed, it may 
be well, when any part has a difficult phrase in half steps, 
or in some unusual intervals of a more or less chromatic 
order, to have the whole choir sing it over and over again 
in unison. If an anthem has a movement calling for a 
sombre or muffled tone, either for a single part, or for all 
the parts, it is well to make an exercise of it in modifying 
the tone. A similar policy should be observed with pas- 


310 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


sages having a prolonged cres., dim., accel, rit., or molto 
rit. A discriminating use of stacc. or sost. may be ac- 
quired in the same way. 

g. Avoid Monotony of Style. In many choirs, it does 
not matter whether the metronome marking is d = 69 
or d = 112, they sing it at @ = 84. Hymn tunes are 
always either dragged at d = 60 or galloped at d ooh By | 
An anthem whose tempo varies from d == OO tc i = .120 


is sung at a uniform time of 3 = 88. The regular use 
of the metronome is not wise, but where such a habit has 
taken hold upon a director and his choir, there is nothing 
more effective in breaking up the monotony. 

Give monotony of time and then add monotony of force 
and the god Somnus can ask no more fitting devotion. 
Some choirs have no idea of p, much less of pp. They 
drone along in mf that occasionally struggles up in sight 
of f.; ff. is far beyond their horizon. Here and there is a 
choir robusto that yells at the top of its voice. No matter 
if the music is marked con espressione or affettuoso, they 
shriek most alarmingly. 

Of course, such mechanical habits can not be broken up 
at a single rehearsal. A quarter of an hour at every re- 
hearsal for six months could be well spent in a definite, 
conscious effort to develop the capacity of singing both 
loud and soft in pure tones. At the same time the range 
of tempo can be greatly broadened. 

Ruts are usually smooth riding, but are conducive to 
sleepiness. In choir work they produce staleness and 
apathy. They are very dangerous to both director and 
singers. Never do anything in exactly the same way. 
Put something fresh, something unexpected into every 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 311 


phase of the unavoidable routine ; only thus can you evade 
spelling routine the easier way—rut. 

h. Conscientious Work to Be Demanded. The choir 
leader should himself cherish high ideals of work, and 
impress them upon his singers until they consider it a 
matter of conscience, as well as of pride, to make their 
share of the divine service the very best attainable. 

If the choir leader’s sense of finish and completeness be 
keen, the choir will soon rise to its requirements and will 
take pleasure in realising his ideals. Impressing these 
ideals is not the work of a single rehearsal, but of scores 
and even hundreds of them. 

i. Learning Difficult Passages. It may be that certain 
parts have difficult passages that need to be studied sepa- 
rately. This should be done, but as quickly as possible, 
lest the other singers become listless and uninterested. 
Better call upon the other parts to sing the difficult phrase 
or passage as a unison, if the difficulty requires undue 
time. ‘Time should not be wasted on the easy parts, but 
every energy concentrated on the halting phrases. When 
these have been taken up one by one and mastered, the 
whole should be sung again from beginning to end. 

j. The Intermission. After acquiring the mere mechan- 
ics of an anthem or two, an intermission should be given 
for five or ten minutes to rest the voices, to give an oppor- 
tunity for business or for announcements, and for a little 
social intercourse between the members. 

k. Studying the Text. In learning a new anthem, the 
first step, after mastering the mere notes, is to study the 
text, to get its message, its general spirit and the several 
emotional values of detailed phrases. Interpretation thus 
becomes easy. ‘The choir, being responsive to the text, 
will instinctively express their emotions in the music. 

1. Study of the Expression. ‘The text being understood, 


312 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


the next step is to make the music express it. The marks 
of expression printed with an anthem are as much a part 
of it as the notes. They should be observed by the sing- 
ers; they are not intended for the director only. The 
work of the director in securing expression is greatly 
simplified and lessened if the singers obey these printed 
directions. Part of his task is to make sure that these 
marks are properly understood and observed. 

Now at last comes the developing of the details; here a 
rit., there a sfz., yonder an extreme pp., in another phrase 
a cres. that swells into a double ff. If the inner sense of 
the composition has been apprehended by the choir, all 
these details will be easily acquired. 

m. Developing Spontanetty. ‘The music must be sung 
over and over again after it is perfectly mastered, literally 
and emotionally, for only thus can the spontaneity be de- 
veloped that will give the music its desired power. Better 
still, memorise it!* Then the eyes of the choir will be 
wide open to see the director, and their spirit free to fol- 
low his spirit. Back of genuine spontaneity in singing 
there must be in the performer: 

An utter forgetfulness of the merely mechanical side of 
the rendering due to a complete mastery of the notes and 
the accessories. 

To this must be added an absolute recognition and re- 


*“T remember several times having the ‘ Hallelujah Chorus’ 
sung from memory, as indeed we sang many of our anthems. 
That took a great deal of drilling, but by spreading it over a long 
time we did not grow tired of it. I have always accepted the 
theory that a short, sharp rehearsal is very much better than a 
long one. It was easier with this choir to hold two thirty-minute 
rehearsals during the week than one sixty-minute rehearsal, and 
that was our custom.”—Rey. Cleland B. McAfee, D.D. It should 
be said that this choir was a college choir, the students living in 
a compact way that made meetings convenient. 


THE CHOIR REHEARSAL 313 


feeling of the emotion which the composer is striving to 
express. 

Beyond that lies the contagion of a clear purpose to 
awaken the same feeling in the hearer. Only when all 
three elements are secured can there be a good rendering 
of any music. 

Anthems should not be sung after a single rehearsal. 
Only after several separate rehearsals will an anthem sink 
into the subconscious elements of rendition and become 
spontaneous. There is no spontaneity in conscious, intelli- 
gent singing. 

The director should have the music at his finger’s ends, 
before the rehearsal, so that he can keep his eyes on the 
singers. There is nothing so compelling as the human eye. 

n. Practicing the Hymns. ‘The poorest work done by 
otherwise successful choirs is often their singing of the 
hymns. In most cases the minister is responsible, as he 
does not select his hymns in time to give the choir an 
opportunity to practice the tunes. 

The minister who has paralysis of will and is unable to 
come to a decision as to the character of his services, until 
he is forced to do so at the last moment, or, who is too 
careless or indifferent to give early thought to this part of 
the service, ought to confess his weakness or his sin to the 
choir leader, and ask him to practice from time to time the 
whole hymnal through, in order to be ready for any unex- 
pected choice the procrastination or errant fancy of the 
preacher may suddenly impose upon him. In any case, it 
is a good thing for the choir to know their hymnal from 
end to end. 

In practicing the hymns three points ought to be kept 
in view: (1) smooth adaptation of the hymn to its tune, 
making sure of the proper breathing places; (2) proper 
expression of the sentiment of the hymn, without falling 


314 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


into a minute and exaggerated variation of time and force 
which a general congregation cannot imitate; and (3) a 
proper movement or speed that the general congregation 
can comfortably follow. 


ONAKNRWNE 


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CooONT ON 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. What great fault defeats the purpose of choir singing? 
. To what is poor enunciation due? 


How can enunciation be improved? 


. What is needful in beginning and ending a passage or phrase? 
. State why and how methods of expression should be studied. 


Why is attention to note reading desirable? 


. Why should the choir be given religious training? 
. In taking up the anthem, what should be done with the inci- 


dental solos? 


. What is the advantage in the organist’s playing over the 


anthem to be learned? 


. How may the singers’ voices be spared undue fatigue? 

. How should the director magnify his office? 

. How may considerable voice training be incidentally secured? 
. How should monotony of style be prevented? 

- How may difficult passages be best learned? 

. The notes having been learned, how shall the expression be 


studied? 


. What are the three elements in spontaneity of singing? 
. What is the value of singing from memory? 
. In practising the hymns what three points must be kept 


in view? 


XXV 


GENERAL CHOIR ACTIVITIES 


Class Room Suggestions: Call upon the members of the choir 
to suggest social and other activities occurring in their experience, 
or under their observation. 


1. Tue Socra, Lire oF THE CHOIR 


a. The Sociable Choir. The ideal choir is a sociable 
choir. Its esprit de corps prompts not only abiding loy- 
alty to the organisation, but also kindly interest and good- 
will for its individual members. Musical people are keyed 
so high that they are naturally an irritable class, easily 
offended and repelled. It follows that the disintegrating 
forces are unusually strong, as compared with other or- 
ganisations, and the danger of strife and disorganisation 
more acute. 

b. Establishing Sociability. Hence one of the problems 
in managing a choir is the development of the centripetal 
“tie that binds ” and the restraint of the centrifugal pas- 
sions that disperse. 

Unfailing courtesy and kindliness during rehearsals and 
hours of service, on the part of the leader and choir alike, 
will do very much in establishing allegretto gracioso as the 
social tempo; but still more can be done by skillful social 
management. Plan to throw the members of the choir 
together informally by quiet suggestions of possible social 
combinations. Have the more prominent singers call on 
the others, and so establish social relations. 

Special care should be had for the more modest and 
retiring members who are in danger of being neglected, 


315 


316 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


by urging their inclusion in social functions that occur, 
by clearing away prejudices and adverse prepossessions, 
or by calling out forbearance and patience where needed. 
If a new member enters the choir, it may require a little 
social pertinacity to secure for him or her the standing 
with older members that is so desirable, especially if the 
newcomer is timid and retiring. To call socially upon new 
singers should be required as an absolutely inflexible rule. 

The choir leader cannot hope to do this quiet social 
work alone. He needs the keen social diplomacy of 
woman to help him, and the more there are of her, willing 
to aid in the development of this kindly social relation in 
the choir, the more certain is success. 

But this work under the surface should find its mani- 
festation in a more public way. Separate social meetings 
should be a regular part of the life of the choir. Ordi- 
narily these should not occur more than once a month, or 
even less often. ‘The social committee should put plenty 
of planning and energy into them and make them notable, 
striking occasions. There should be some sort of a pro- 
gram; an address, a musical program, charades, games, 
picnics, lawn fetes, spelling bees, story telling bees, and 
the like. 

These social gatherings may be held in the church. If 
the pastor and director can open their homes to them occa- 
sionally, there will be an added interest and pleasure. But 
these social gatherings need not be confined to the home of 
the pastor or of the leader. It will add much to the gen- 
eral good and pleasure if other members of the choir open 
the doors of their homes. Indeed, if some other member 
of the congregation outside of the choir should have this 
hospitable impulse and give the choir a pleasant evening, 
the social effect will be even more inspiring, as it will be 
an expression of appreciation of the choir’s work by the 


GENERAL CHOIR ACTIVITIES 317 


church. Mr. M. J. McDonough suggests, in “ The Choir 
Leader,” that instead of the choir always being enter- 
tained, it return the social favour by entertaining its 
previous hostesses, other members of the congregation, 
and finally members of nearby church choirs. 

In addition to these, there may be excursions by the 
choir as a whole to neighbouring towns or cities to attend 
some important musical performance, picnics in the 
summer-time, sleighing parties and hay wagon rides in 
the winter, and other like informal festivities. 

c. Value of Active Social Life. ‘This development of 
general kindliness and of the sense of personal relation 
and responsibility bears directly upon the work of the 
choir. It will actually sing better for it. 

The influence will also be felt by the congregation, who 
will be more responsive to the songs of praise and devo- 
tion rendered by the choir, and this social unity will enable 
the choir to realise the consummate flower of beauty and 
impressiveness which it would otherwise miss. 

d. The Minister's Part in Choir Sociability. Even the 
most unmusical pastor can be a very tower of strength on 
the social side of the choir life. His occasional visits to 
the rehearsals may be productive of great good in this 
difficult phase of the choir’s activities. By a little finesse 
he can secure social recognition outside of its ranks for 
the choir as a whole. In a thousand little ways, he can 
help to fill the life of the choir with kindliness and 
good-will. 


2. THE FINANCES OF THE CHOIR 


The financial side of the choir presents great difficulties 
and a wise pastor will win the good-will of the choir by 
giving personal attention to its needs. Of course, ideally 
the expenses of the choir are provided for in the regular 


318 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


church budget, and its bills are paid by the church 
treasurer. 

If all the choirs were really ideal, our discussion of 
choir finances would be very short, but, “the more’s the 
pity,” the choirs whose finances are ideally provided for 
are as yet an extremely small proportion of the whole 
number. The suggestions on the financial line must be 
practical rather than ideal, and plans must be proposed 
that make a virtue of necessity. 

a. The Actual Expense. Let us consider for one mo- 
ment the necessary expenses : 

The music that is used from Sabbath to Sabbath must 
certainly be paid for. In the course of the year it amounts 
to quite a sum, especially if the choir prefers separate 
numbers, or octavos, and if it is too ambitious to repeat 
over and over again the anthems once rendered. Of 
course, choir journals cut down this expense very consid- 
erably, without lowering the standard of effectiveness; 
but still that item of expense is quite important. In ad- 
dition there is occasional sheet music for solo numbers 
and special occasions, and, if the choir carries a banner 
for industry and aggressiveness, the semi-annual cantata, 
which also represents considerable expense. 

The choir leader and organist must give so much atten- 
tion and time to the work that they ought by all means to 
be remunerated for their services. ‘The salary to be paid 
depends upon their expertness, and upon the financial con- 
- dition of the individual congregation; but whatever the 
amount, it should be something. 

When these persons do not need the money they so 
fully earn, and prefer to make an offering of their talents, 
it would still be better to allow them a salary, and then let 
them decide to what purpose it is to be applied and cover 
it back again into the church treasury. That would put a 


GENERAL CHOIR ACTIVITIES 319 


tangible valuation upon their services that would awaken 
a larger appreciation than they now receive. 

That a large chorus of amateur singers should be paid, 
is practicable only in a few churches. A volunteer choir 
of average singers out of the congregation, who have the 
benefit of efficient direction, are receiving as well as con- 
ferring a benefit, and they cannot claim any remuneration. 
Where a church is wealthy it may be expedient to allow a 
small fee to promote punctuality at rehearsals and church 
services. If trained singers are sought—those who have 
spent much time and money upon their musical education 
—they should, in all equity, be paid something in propor- 
tion to their true value. 

b. Who Should Meet This Expense? But whatever 
the sum total of expenses, they must be met. When the 
church does its duty, this responsibility does not rest upon 
the choir; but when the church is poor or indifferent, the 
choir must meet its own bills. In such a case the outlay 
is usually confined to music and the occasional rental of 
extra instruments, and the sum is not large. 

The methods of raising the needed money are as varied 
as the circumstances of the choir. Some assess a small 
fee upon each member of the choir. This is not fair to 
the singers, who already contribute time and effort. 

The more equitable way is to appoint a finance com- 
mittee, which shall make a canvass of the members of the 
congregation who are, or ought to be, interested in the 
music, or it should arrange for a collection, on some ap- 
pointed day, for the work of the choir. 

When for any reason this is not practicable, an annual 
entertainment may prove feasible, combining, as it does; a 
pleasant variation from the regular work and a charming 
social occasion, inspiring the whole congregation with new 
interest, with the financial results sought for. This may 


320 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


be a regular secular concert, with plenty of choral work 
and needed solo variety; or a cantata, either serious or 
humourous, an old folks’ program, or, if preferred, a mis- 
cellaneous program, which shall include representatives of 
all classes of the church, may be provided. 

c. The Responsibility of the Pastor. ‘The really com- 
petent pastor, the general executive head of the congre- 
gation, will not consider the financial problems of the 
choir beneath his notice. He will see that his people are 
enlightened as to their financial duties to the church choir, 
and will not permit the whole burden to fall upon a few 
persons, the sweetness of whose approving conscience is 
made bitter by a sense of being imposed upon. 


3. Tue AUXILIARY WorK OF THE CHOIR 


a. The Value of the Choir Outside of the Services. A 
good choir in sympathy with the church and its varied 
work, can be exceedingly useful outside of the regular 
church service. It can be of inestimable value in special 
services, both by making them attractive to outsiders and 
by deepening the emotional impression upon the people. 
It can be used occasionally in the special Sunday-school 
services and meetings with admirable results. For social 
gatherings of the church it can provide secular numbers 
that will add brightness and cheer. It can provide con- 
certs for special objects, not only to raise money for them, 
but to create general interest in them. 

b. Crowding the Preacher. ‘The choir that waits for 
the average minister to plan and provide the opportunity 
for doing all the good service of which it is capable, will 
never find any open doors outside of the stated service. It 
becomes, therefore, the duty of the choir through its di- 
rector to plan extra activities and to crowd the minister 
into giving them a place. Hence the choir must gently, 


GENERAL CHOIR ACTIVITIES 321 


sweetly, affectionately, but firmly crowd him into letting 
it do these extra things, for its own sake, for the min- 
ister’s sake, and for the congregation’s sake. 

c. Winning Souls. The choir is a solid organisation of 
Christian people whose common purpose is to praise God 
and hasten the coming of the Kingdom; why should they 
not give room to an even more aggressive ideal of their 
task, and make the consummate goal of their efforts the 
winning of souls? There will be special evangelistic num- 
bers and solos adapted to impress the unsaved, team work 
of personal effort—co-operating with the pastor and— 
beyond all else—engaging in united prayer for specific 
persons. 

d. Serenading “ Shut-ins’’ One of the most delightful 
_and helpful outside opportunities is to make a list of the 
invalids of the congregation, the “ shut-ins,” and have the 
choir stand outside their homes and sing favourite hymns. 
It will be a great comfort to the sick people, and a happy 
training for the choir in unselfish thoughtfulness and 
sympathy. 

e. Other Serenading. While in the mood, others may 
be included in the serenade. The pastor will do better 
work because of the cheer of such a mark of good-will; 
“newly-weds” will enjoy this genial substitute for the 
old-fashioned “ charivari.” The leading officials of the 
church, including the “music committee,’ will take 
more interest in the music of the church after such a 
courtesy. 

f. Initiating Improvements. So well organised and 
compact a church bloc should not be satisfied to stop with 
the music. With their habit of doing things in their own 
department, it will be easy to initiate other musical move- 
ments: the rebuilding of the organ, the more comfortable 
outfitting of the choir loft, the securing of new hymnals 


322 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


for the church, the purchase of needed additional instru- 
ments for the church orchestra, or the starting of music- 
reading classes among the young people of the church. 
They may even be felt in lines less immediately connected 
with their work: new pulpit furniture, new pews, new art 
glass windows, new carpets, or repainting the church. 
They have one great lever to apply to the lifting of the 
general interests of the church; they can help pay for 
these and other improvements not only by their personal 
subscriptions, but by concerts and entertainments. 

g. Exchanging Choir Lofts. Why should not a choir 
follow the example of preachers, who occasionally ex- 
change pulpits, and exchange choir lofts with some choir 
in a neighbouring church? Both choirs will respond to 
the inspiration a new set of hearers will afford. Both 
churches will have a fresh experience, and both services 
will be the more fresh and vital for the exchange. 

h, Visiting Other Services, Again, why should not the 
director provide a soloist for his own service and arrange 
for the choir in a body to attend service at some other 
church where there is a good choir? ‘That, too, will break 
the depressing monotony of singing at two services every 
Sunday. Moreover, it will lead to some helpful self- 
examination on the part of the choir, and perhaps on the 
part of the director as well. 

1, Uniting Neighbourhood Choirs. There is no serious 
reason—inertia and human nature are not serious reasons 
—why choirs of adjacent churches should not unite their 
forces on cantatas and concerts, rendering them in both 
churches under their respective directors and organists. 
The music would be more impressive, the broad Christian 
spirit would be influential for good, narrowness and 
selfishness would be dissipated and real brotherhood 
established. 


GENERAL CHOIR ACTIVITIES 323 


J. Management of Strife and Scandals, Offenses must 
needs come and scandals may arise. If they cannot be 
cured, and if the whole choir by mere association with it 
has lost its influence, it is better to disband the choir for 
six months, depending on congregational singing alone. 
After the trouble has blown over, reorganisation can take 
place, with such changes as may be needed. This should 
be a last resort, however; if the trouble is due to merely 
irresponsible gossip, magnifying possible slight indiscre- 
tions, the choir should stand by the suffering member, 
with only such slight concessions to the temporary popular 
clamour as may be needful to avoid injuring the influence 
of the choir. 


4. MeEtTHODs OF THE CHOIR 


There are some odds and ends of choir activities which 
need attention, but which have not fitted in elsewhere. 

a. The Rising of the Choir. Many choirs make a very 
bad impression by the awkward, straggling way in which 
they rise. There should be special practice in rising 
promptly and uniformly in the rehearsal, so that this fault 
may be avoided. The director’s signal should be so clear 
as not to fail to be understood by the choir and yet so in- 
conspicuous that the congregation will not notice it. 

b. The Anthem Prelude. Not until the choir is stand- 
ing should the organist begin the prelude of the anthem. 
In case the anthem has no formal prelude, the opening two 
or four measures may be played as such. ‘The important 
point is that the choir shall get not only the pitch but the 
tonality and the tempo of the music about to be sung. 

c. The Director's Public Direction. Whether the di- 
rector shall stand before the choir to beat time and direct 
the music must depend chiefly on the size of the choir, 
although even a well-trained large choir may dispense with 


324 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


this aid. With the average director, however, it is an open 
question whether he does not do more harm than good. 

The fact is, that if the work in the rehearsal has been 
well done, if the choir has learned the music thoroughly 
and fully comprehended its spirit, it can well dispense with 
the public direction. But the question is to be settled by 
each choir for itself. There is here no mechanical rule 
that can be applied promiscuously. ‘Too much depends on 
the choir, on the director, and on the fastidiousness of the 
congregation. 

d. Reading the Text. If the leader does lead publicly 
and has the necessary public address, it will be wise as a 
rule for him to read the text of the anthem, whether 
Scripture or hymn, before the choir arises. It is now the 
exceptional thing, it is true, but the greater is the pity, for 
there is nothing that will add more of religious effective- 
ness to the work of the choir. But this reading should be 
done with discretion and effectiveness. The text of the 
original passage only should be read and—well read. 
Where there is a bulletin, the texts may be printed there 
and so economise time. 

e. The Behaviour of the Choir. Another matter, al- 
ready alluded to in a previous chapter, calls for more 
emphasis. That a choir of boys should get restive and 
create more or less disturbance in public worship, is not 
surprising, but that there should be trouble of a like char- 
acter with mature persons who ought to understand the 
dignity of their position, as well as the obligations of the 
time and place, is not so evident. 

f. How to Correct Misbehaviour. How shall such con- 
duct be stopped? Certainly not by the minister’s public 
rebuke, the sting of which is sharpened by his evident bad 
temper. Where the disturbing and irreverent actions are 
somewhat general, the choir may be expostulated with in 


GENERAL CHOIR ACTIVITIES 325 


the succeeding rehearsal by the choir director in a tactful 
way that recognises the fact that all the members are not 
involved. Where the trouble is confined to only a few, 
these should be seen personally by the choir director. If 
the trouble is repeated, the pastor should try to secure a 
promise of reformation. If that does not end the disturb- 
ance, it will probably be wise to ask the offending singer 
or singers to withdraw from the choir. 

In any and every case, never write a letter to the offend- 
ing persons! No matter how discreetly the communica- 
tion may be phrased, there will inevitably be expressions 
that the recipients will construe offensively, 

Perhaps the very best cure for a flippant, careless, noisy 
choir is to secure a genuine revival of religion among the 
singers. A really devout, earnestly religious singer will ‘ 
not disturb public worship. Flippancy, shallowness, ir- 
reverence, are born of a lack of spiritual comprehension. 

g. The Dress of the Choir. There are two ways of pre- 
venting unseemly displays of finery in the choir loft. One 
is for the director to talk the matter over privately with 
his more influential ladies and create a sentiment in favour 
of modest, inconspicuous clothes that will not only create, 
but will enforce an unwritten law that gay clothing shall 
not be worn in the choir, the offending culprit to be pun- 
ished with merciless banter, persiflage and ridicule. 

The other way is to introduce a regular uniform, either 
the traditional one of cassock and cotta with a “mortar 
board ” for the ladies, or some less formal dress agreed 
upon by them.’ A surpliced choir is apt to rouse tradi- 
tional prejudices, as savouring of “ popery,” in many con- 


*In case surplices are adopted provision should be made for a 
robing room and a “choir mother,” who will take charge of the 
garments and see that they are laundered. 


326 THE CHURCH CHOIR 


gregations. The gain is too small to warrant running the 
risk of harming “weak brethren,” or of dividing the 
church by insisting on the regular vestments. In nine 
cases out of ten the best solution is for the men to wear 
their regular costumes and all the women to appear in 
plain white, or black, or shades of gray. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. Why is sociability a valuable choir asset? 

2. How may it be promoted? 

3. Where should choir socials be held? 

4. How does sociability affect the work of the choir? 

5. What is the minister’s part in this promotion of sociability ? 

6. What interest should the pastor manifest in the finances of 
the choir? 

7, What are the actual expenses of a choir? 

8. Why should the director and organist be paid? 

9. What choir singers should be paid? 

10. How should choir expense funds be raised? 

11. What can a choir do outside of the services? 

12. What may be necessary before a choir is permitted to do all 
of which it is capable? 

13. Can the choir be made an evangelistic force? 

14. What special lines of helpfulness and cheer are open to a 
choir? 

15. What improvements in the church can it initiate? 

16. How can it reach out into other churches? 

17. How should strife and scandal be managed? 

18. What attention should be paid to the rising and sitting of 
the choir? 

19. Should the director lead the choir in the church service? 

20. Should the director read the text of the anthem? 

21. How should public misbehaviour in the choir be corrected? 

22. How may unseemly display of dress be obviated? 


PART V 


SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL CHURCH 
MUSIC 


“Great is song used to great ends.” 
—ALFRED TENNYSON. 


XXVI 
OCCASIONAL FORMS OF CHURCH MUSIC 


Class Room Suggestions: It will be helpful to ask some of the 
students to secure catalogues of various publishers of sacred solos 
and make a list of texts and the solos appropriate for them. 
Others may be asked to prepare lists of unworn hymns for 
funerals. Musical members of the class should bring in sample 
programs of music adapted for church choir concerts. 


Supplementary Reading: Unfortunately there is little literature 
on this practical side of church music. The most helpful book 
accessible is ‘Church Music and Worship,” by Earl E. Harper, 
Abingdon Press, New York and Cincinnati. 


1. CHurcH SoLos 


a. The Importance of Solos in Church Music. While 
the idea of pleasure is usually associated with the solo, 
more than with any other form of church music, that is 
not its primary purpose or value. As well look upon the 
sermon as a form of entertainment, for the objectives of 
the solo should be just the same: the delivery of a mes- 
sage to the hearer. The soloist has a more serious task 
than simply to put his audience into a good humour. He 
is a messenger of the great King, bearing orders and 
proclamations to His subjects. 

If the singer has put away all thought of self and sings 
spontaneously and sincerely a message that will comfort 
and inspire, the sclo may be made one of the most re- 
ligious and helpful features of a church service. To do 
anything else is to waste a rare opportunity to cheer and 
lift the hearts of men, and is to degrade to a petty concert 
that which should be the noblest and most elevated mo- 
ment in the life of the people. 


329 


330 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


b. Solos Should Be An Integral Part of the Service. 
Solos should be as integral a part of the church service as 
the sermon. ‘Their selection should be as purposeful as 
the selection of the text of the sermon. For this reason 
the pastor should co-operate with the singer in the choice, 
emphasising on his part not so much the music, as the text 
and its relation to his plans for the service. ‘The same 
general principles guide as in the selection of the other 
hymns, but there may well be more latitude. 

The solo must be selected to harmonise with the plan of 
the service, with that which has gone before and with that 
which is to follow. When the range of selection is lim- 
ited because of the lack of needed materials, or by the lack 
of musical skill, or by the insubordination of the soloists, 
and as a consequence the solo is only remotely related to 
the general key-note of the service, the pastor should make 
all the more earnest and thoughtful an effort to bring out 
the relation that vaguely exists, or to create one if it does 
not exist, by a graceful, striking introduction. 

c. The Text of the Solos. If the soloist is a messenger 
of the King, then what he sings should be the King’s mes- 
sage. The text must be thoughtful, full of devout feeling, 
and inspirational or comforting. At the same time a solo- 
ist may sing religious poems, expressions of intimate per- 
sonal desire and experiences rich in rhetorical figures that 
would be absurd on the lips of a congregation. There are 
so many fine solo settings of hymns accepted as standards, 
and of Scripture texts, that a wise and worthy selection is 
always possible. 

In going around among the churches one is amazed at 
the “stuff” that is being sung as solos by people who are 
otherwise intelligent and sensible. 

The words ought to be as religious as the hymns the 
congregation sings, appealing to the distinctly devout and 


OCCASIONAL FORMS 331 


religious feelings and impulses of the worshipper. ‘The 
solo has no reason for existence if this is not done. 

d. The Pastor's Supervision of the Solos. In order to 
make such travesties of the church service impossible, the 
pastor must supervise, personally or through his choir 
director, all the selections made by his soloists. It is true 
that singers may at first be restive under such supervision 
and the introduction of their solos by the pastor. 

But a steady, undeviating purpose, softened by unfail- 
ing patience, kindliness, and tact, should secure the loyalty 
and co-operation of the most captious and irritable. 

e. The Mustcal Culture of the Congregation Must Be 
Considered. The musical and literary culture of the con- 
gregation, whether more or less, must always be borne 
in mind. A simple Gospel song with devout, Scriptural 
matter, or a normal appeal to religious emotions, will 
often be infinitely more effective than an aria from a 
great oratorio. On the other hand, a congregation made 
up of persons of wide musical or even general culture 
will be helped in their devotions by some classical aria 
like Mendelssohn’s “ The Lord is Mindful of His Own,” 
or his “Lord God of Israel,” or Handel’s “He Was 
Despised.” 

It should not be forgotten that a great message demands 
a great hearing. 

Dr. Cleland B. McAfee illustrates this important point 
in a little incident at the close of one of his services: 
“ Someone said to one of my soloists one day, ‘ You sang 
especially well today.’ She replied, ‘Well, I was just 
thinking that the congregation listened especially well 
today!’ ” 

f. The Accompaniment of the Solo. No small part of 
the value of a solo is contributed by the accompanist. He 
supplies the atmosphere of the solo, the underlying feel- 


8382 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


ing, the intensifying of the effect produced. He should 
not be obtrusive any more than is the air to the flying 
bird. The accompanist should only use power enough to 
adequately support the singer. The soloist may well de- 
cide just how much support is needed. 

g. The Personal Character of the Soloists. If the solo- 
ist is to be a messenger of God, he must be a good man, 
nay a religious man, singing the message out of the depths 
of his own heart and experience. Why should not this be 
as true of the singer of God’s truth as of its speaker, the 
preacher ? 

h. Singing with Wrong Motives. But the question of 
character goes deeper than the merely outward life. That 
may be entirely correct, but if the motives lying back of 
the vocalist’s singing are worldly, selfish, and unworthy, 
how can his interpretation of sacred texts be noble and 
inspired with a spontaneous sincerity? Such a singer 
selects his numbers from the wrong standpoint. 

How inexpressibly shallow, how sinfully selfish is such 
a view of the privilege of singing before an assembly of 
worshipping souls, and how hollow a mockery of infinitely 
holy things it must appear to Him in whose honour it 
falsely purports to be. 

1. Serious Faults in Solo Singing. ‘There are prevalent 
faults in church solo singers that so vitiate their work, that 
it is worth the minister’s while to seek to correct them. 
One is the evident effort at personal display which has just 
been deprecated. Another allied to it is insincerity and 
lack of personal sympathy with the message conveyed by 
the solo. A third is slovenliness of enunciation, the con- 
gregation being unable to distinguish the words, so losing 
the whole meaning of the effort. Still another is an af- 
fected emotionalism, finding expression in dramatic poses, 
in “ scooping” or excessive portamento, appropriate only | 


OCCASIONAL FORMS 333 


in impassioned operatic singing, or in a cheap, vulgar 
tremolo or vibrato. 

The minister cannot attack these faults directly ; he must 
secure a higher ideal in the mind and heart of the singer. 


2. MEN’s QUARTETS 


A good men’s quartet is a valuable part of a church’s 
musical resources. It fits in so often, on so many different 
occasions, sacred and secular, that it is worth almost any 
amount of trouble to gather and train the needed singers. 
It may be necessary to be satisfied with some rather rough 
voices, and for a while “ take the will for the deed.” For- 
tunately, a good many congregations are not very critical 
regarding pure tone (else how could they so calmly endure 
the tremolo of their singers ?), or of perfect blending ; they 
enjoy the virile voices. 

a. Use Music Arranged for Men’s Voices. Music writ- 
ten for mixed voices should be arranged for men’s voices. 
To distribute the parts among the several parts of the 
quartet is to invert chords, spoil progressions, cover up the 
soprano part by the higher tenor part, and in general ruin 
the composition. 

b. Voices Must Blend Properly. The four voices must 
not only have the proper ranges for their respective parts, 
but must be of such quality as to blend properly. Four 
excellent voices may make a very poor quartet, if they are 
unequal in power, if their individual quality of tone is so 
insistent as not to biend with the others. 

c. Balance of Power. ‘There must not only be a har- 
mony of quality, but also a balance of power, in the sev- 
eral parts. This is more important in men’s music than in 
a mixed quartet, as is also its quality. The parts are so 
close together that any lack of perfect blending is more 
jarring to the hearers. 


334 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


d. Accuracy of Time. There should be absolute ac- 
curacy of time. Without it there can be no unity. There 
will be four voices, singing at the same time, but not 
singing together. 

e. Quality of Tone. Exact intonation, pure tone, 
clearly defined, and accurate pitch, without tremolo, are 
essential in the singing of men. 

f. Good Articulation. Without clear enunciation of 
words and absolutely synchronous attack and release of 
syllables, the message will not be delivered. Such singing 
has no religious value. 

g. Good Expression. Strong feeling, spiritual identifi- 
cation with the music and also with the words, finding 
expression in unified exactness of time and shading of 
force, is indispensable for successful singing. 


3. Tue Usk oF CANTATAS 


a. The Advantages of the Cantata. In recent years 
choirs have turned to cantatas, both English and 
American, for their special seasonal programs. ‘The 
cantata has some marked advantages. Composers take 
such an extended work more seriously than they do 
an anthem. The selection of texts for the cantata 
are more varied, more thoughtful, and more unified 
than any pot pourri of anthems could hope to be. In 
consequence the music is more varied in form, con- 
tains more striking contrasts and reaches a more logical 
and effective culmination, or climax, in the closing 
number. 

b. The Value of Cantatas to the Choir. The cantata 
will intrigue the interest of the choir more than a miscel- 
laneous program. It will rouse its ambition and secure 
better attendance at rehearsals. Actually, the study of a 
cantata will not impose a much greater task on the choir, 


OCCASIONAL FORMS 335 


since so large a proportion of it will be learned privately 
by the soloists. 

c. The Effect of the Cantata on the Congregation. It 
will be easier to awaken enthusiasm in the congregation 
and the general public in the rendition of a cantata than in 
a miscellaneous program, and consequently to reach a 
larger number of hearers. What is of even more impor- 
tance, the religious impression of a thoughtful and well 
written cantata upon a congregation will be much deeper 
than a merely mechanical selection of anthems. 

d. Vartety in Grade and Style. There is a wide range 
of style and grade of difficulty in cantatas now to be had 
from various publishers, so that it will be easy to suit the 
ability and needs of any choir for special or general oc- 
casions. They range from the musical intricacies of Sir 
John Stainer and Harry Rowe Shelley to the easiest grade 
prepared for choir and Sunday-school. 

e. The Cantata Should Not Have a Concert Spirit. 
These cantatas should not be rendered as mere concert 
programs during a Sunday service. ‘They have a clear 
theme running through them which should be developed 
in a ten-minute address or in pithy and illuminating com- 
ments from number to number. They should be preceded 
by at least a hymn and a prayer, perhaps also by a Scrip- 
ture reading pertinent to the theme of the cantata, 


4. CONCERTS AND RECITALS 


"a. Concerts. A concert will break into the routine of 
church work with a different style of music sung in a 
different spirit. Hence the musical horizon of the choir 
singers will be broadened and their capacity for varied 
expression increased. 

Some concerts may be prepared with an enlargement of 
musical culture as a clearly defined objective. In such 


336 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


cases, the music should be somewhat standard and classi- 
cal in character, calling for considerable study. Care 
should be taken not to reach out beyond the ability of the 
choir, after prolonged study, to sing such music well. 

Other concerts of a happy, joyous spirit should also be 
given, with easy, cheerful, and popular music of a good 
type. There are plenty of stirring English and American 
glees which the choir will enjoy singing and the congrega- 
tion will enjoy hearing. 

It will also give the choir soloists an opportunity to 
spread their wings of song and to astonish their admiring 
friends by their vocal abilities. 

When a choir gives a concert as a choir, its church rela- 
tions cannot be ignored. A certain dignity must be re- 
tained. Certain classes of humour will be ruled out. 

Of course, it will be under the direction of the choir 
leader, who will consult with his superior officer, the pas- 
tor, regarding any doubtful points. The pastor, on the 
other hand, will not interfere with the amusement of the 
choir unless under extreme provocation. 

b. Organ Recitals. It does not seem like good church 
economics to allow an expensive instrument like the organ 
to stand idle all week paying no dividends. 

The best method to utilise it is to give a series of organ 
recitals, part of which may be cultural and the rest popu- 
lar. A whole hour devoted to any one instrument would 
prove monotonous, and hence it is better to introduce 
other instruments such as the harp, the violin, violoncello, 
or vocal music by soloist or by a chorus. 

The experiment might be tried to have organ recitals 
for children, at some hour after school hours or on Sat- 
urday, interspersed with songs by the children which they 
have learned in the public schools. 

If these recitals are to hold the interest of their attend- 


OCCASIONAL FORMS 337 


ants, the music must be selected with that in view. ‘There 
is no pleasure in playing to empty pews. To play a series 
of fugues and other organ compositions by Bach may look 
scholarly, when the program appears in the daily papers, 
but will only encourage the pride of the organist, which 
usually needs no such ministry. Play good music, of 
course, but have the organist remember that he is playing 
to please and help the particular congregation whose 
musical minister he is. 

d. Entrance Fees. The question of entrance fee must 
be left to local judgment. If the musical meetings are fre- 
quently held, most of them should be free. However, if a 
fee is asked, the proceeds ought to go to some philan- 
thropic or religious cause, else the Master’s reproach 
against the commercial use of the temple in the olden days 
may apply. 

e. Programs Should Be Accurate. In the hurry of get- 
ting the program to the printer there is often gross care- 
lessness. ‘Titles of compositions should be carefully cop- 
ied, particularly if they are in a foreign language that will 
puzzle the printer. The composer’s name should also be 
given and accurately spelled. 

f. Does it need to be said that neither concerts nor re- 
citals should be held on the Sabbath day, much less pre- 
liminary to the church service? This does not mean that 
the organist’s prelude may not consist of several numbers, 
provided always that they all prepare the way and har- 
monise with the service they introduce. 


5. Funerat Music 


a. The Routine of Funeral Music. Funeral music is 
getting into a very deep rut. “ Asleep in Jesus” is inevi- 
table. “Lead, Kindly Light” is almost equally certain, 
though chiefly appropriaté by the emphasis placed on the 


838 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


closing phrases. Add “ Nearer, My God, to Thee,” “ Safe 
in the Arms of Jesus,” “Rock of Ages,’ and “ Jesus, 
Lover of My Soul,” andthe music of nine out of ten 
funerals is outlined. 

b, Reasons for it. Of course, there are reasons for this 
limited list. There is little time for preparation; the ser- 
vices occur at unusual or busy hours; the range of ma- 
terial from which to select is limited; the friends who 
select the hymns have no wide acquaintance or interest in 
hymns; the singers are volunteers, who have little oppor- 
tunity to practice together. 

c. The Way Out. “ Whatever the difficulty, there is 
always a way out,” is a favourite motto, and it is true 
here. If the choir cannot sing at funerals, some definite 
arrangement should be made with certain persons who 
can be relied upon to supply this needed tender ser- 
vice. If a quartet cannot be secured, why not use a 
sympathetic soloist? Sometimes a duet will be even more 
effective. 

d. A New Custom. Because of these difficulties, the 
custom has grown up of dispensing with music entirely. 
Sometimes a hymn is read as a sort of compromise. 
Where no effective music can be provided, it is better to 
accept its absence. 

e. Funeral Music Should Not Be Depressing. It 
should be clearly realised that a Christian funeral is no 
place for hopeless, depressing music. While it should be 
tender and restrained, it may also be hopeful and cheer- 
ing. Singers are often so impressed with the solemnity of 
the occasion that they sing so softly that their tones lose 
all musical value. Couple with it an excessive tremolo, so 
often affected by half-cultivated singers, and you have a 
combination distasteful to the really sincere and musical 
soul. Do we not at our funerals too often practically 


OCCASIONAL. FORMS 339 


deny the very doctrine that ought to be our chief comfort 
at such a time? 

f. The Minister Should Select the Music. ‘The min- 
ister ought to have an active voice in the selection of 
funeral music. To leave it to the whim and ignorance of 
the friends of the departed often leads to rank absurdity. 
At the: very best, their limited knowledge of appropriate 
songs confines their selection to the half dozen already 
named, which impress them as the conventionally proper 
thing. Let the minister assume that he is to select his 
own hymns. 

g. Appropriate Hymns. Then when he has won the 
victory over this tyranny of grief that takes a solemn 
pleasure in contemplating itself, let him have his quartet 
or soloist sing “ Jerusalem, the Golden,” “There is a 
Land of Pure Delight,” “I Will Sing You a Song of That . 
Beautiful Land,” ‘“‘ Bringing in the Sheaves,” “Give Me 
the Wings of Faith to Rise,” ‘‘ Blest Be the Tie That 
Binds,” the first two verses of Bickersteth’s “Till He 
Come,” “ How Firm a Foundation,” “ Jesus, Saviour, 
Pilot Me,” and make the service no less sympathetic, but 
much more Christian and inspiring. Drop out the cease- 
less iteration of “rest”? and “ peace” and sing of “ life,” 
—the life beyond full of blessedness. 

h. Instruct the People. Moreover, why should not the 
preacher, incidentally in a sermon, or directly in an ad- 
dress upon the ideal Christian funeral, brush away these 
pagan cobwebs that still hang about the minds of pro- 
fessed believers in Christ and His resurrection? Why 
should these false conceptions of funeral “good form” 
continue to degrade our memorial services into occasions 
of heathen wailing in utter denial of the cardinal doctrines 
of Christianity ? 

The needed instruction cannot be given at the time of 


3840 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


the funeral. It must be given apart from any funeral 
service, and must avoid sharp and severe criticism. ‘There 
should be positive instruction of how things ought to be 
done, rather than sharp condemnation of things that have 
been done. 

1. The Minister's Own Attitude. If the minister him- 
self will make less of the grass that withereth, and the 
flower that fadeth away, and more of the hope that is laid 
up for us in heaven, the people will be readier to sing 
hymns of victory and triumphant faith when their Chris- 
tian friends are promoted to the tabernacle not made with 
hands, eternal in the heavens. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 
. Why is the church solo important? 
. What should be its relation to the service as a whole? 
. State why the text of the solo is of first importance. 
. What class of texts should be discarded? 
. In what spirit should the pastor’s supervision be exercised ? 
. To what other lines of adaptation should the solo be subject? 
. What elements of value does the good accompanist supply? 
. Why is the personal character of the vocalist important? 
. What motives in singing solos should be guarded against? 
. What are prevalent faults in solo singing ? 
. What points of importance should be sought for in men’s 
quartets ? 
. What are the advantages in using cantatas in church service? 
. What serious danger in rendering cantatas should be guarded 
against? 
14. Have occasional concerts any value, and what should be 
their nature? 
15. What advantage is there in organ recitals? 
16. When should concerts and recitals be held? 
17, What can be done to make funeral music more effective? 
18. What should be its leading ideal? 
19. How should the people be instructed in planning for funerals? 
20. What should be the minister’s attitude in reference to death? 


= SOMNDAMUAWNE 


— ee 
w&w dN 


XXVII 
EVANGELISTIC AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL MUSIC 


Class Room Suggestions: An address by a really spiritual sing- 
ing evangelist may supplement what is offered here. If several 
students should analyse a few of the more popular evangelistic 
song books, it might be helpful. A like discussion of various 
types of Sunday-school song books from a practical standpoint 
might bring out valuable material. 


A. MUSIC IN EVANGELISTIC WORK 


1. THE Mission oF SoNG IN EVANGELISM 


a. The Purpose of an Evangelistic Campaign. An 
evangelistic campaign is not usually organised for mere 
instruction. There may be a striking review of the in- 
struction already given in the home, in the Sunday-school, 
in the regular service and by the printed page, but that 
review is not made for the purpose of impressing the 
memory so much, as it is to vitalise the truth already 
intellectually accepted. Primarily the whole purpose is to 
compel a definite decision on the part of persons who 
know their duty, but have not done it. 

b. Factors Needful to a Decision. 'To reach a decision 
three things are necessary: to appeal to the judgment with 
living, concrete truth; to stir the emotions that normally 
follow the clear apprehension of such truth and normally 
precede the action of the will; to create a definite, unes- 
capable occasion and opportunity to make a decision. 

c. Emotion Necessary to a Decision. The body of in- 
struction having been previously given the problem is how 
to transform mere beliefs into convictions by emotional- 
ising them. The wills of ninety-nine men are moved by 


341 


342, SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


mere emotion where one man is moved by an abstract 
thought. Sacred music, creating and expressing religious 
emotion, is therefore an immense force in evangelistic 
work. The sincere feeling of a hundred devout souls is 
concentrated by a properly rendered Gospel song, and 
affects, in an intangible but invincible way, the minds and 
hearts of the unsaved persons present, and rouses feelings 
never experienced before. It gives vital force to facts and 
ideas that never seemed real until now. 

d. The Psychic Side of Evangelistic Songs. On the 
merely human side there is here a psychic force, unmoral 
in itself, it is true, but like any other capacity of our 
nature, available for the highest moral and spiritual uses. 
If one will study God’s methods of winning the unsaved, 
as exemplified in definite cases happening before our eyes, 
we shall find Him using the most trivial occurrences, the 
most unpromising lines of influence. It is not surprising, 
therefore, that He takes the exercise of song, with the 
attendant psychic force it generates, and, filling it with 
His spirit and using it for His purposes of salvation, 
makes it a mighty engine of power to lift men out of 
sin. God has laid His seal of acceptance upon the sing- 
ing of the Gospel of salvation just as surely as He has 
upon its preaching. 

e. Song Services Successful Without Preaching. In- 
deed, so valuable is the service of song in its varied forms 
and applications that, if properly managed, it may produce 
immense results without any regular preaching at all. ‘The 
blessing of God may be expected on a series of song ser- 
mons, properly planned and conducted, as certainly as 
upon equally spiritual regular discourses. 

A singing evangelist, who is fertile in spiritual comment 
and is a good leader of song, may be the very best helper 
a regular pastor can secure. If he is able, devout and dis- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL MUSIC 343 


creet, the pastor can afford to shorten his own sermonic 
contributions to the work and give the singer the larger 
place in the campaign, or step aside entirely. His share of 
the work may all have been done previously. 

If the pastor is himself a singer, and has the endurance 
to both preach and sing, so much the better. “ The sing- 
ing parson” is still a great force, as much so as in the 
pioneer days. A well selected solo immediately following 
the sermon is extremely effective. But the minister must 
be sure that he has a pleasing, sympathetic voice, else he 
may only neutralise the effect of his sermon. 


2. Tur Book of EVANGELISTIC SONGS 


a. The Kind of Book Needed. Ninety-nine out of 
every hundred church hymnals have in view only the sol- 
emn convocation of the saints on Sunday morning. Hence 
it is necessary, when getting down to practical, effective, 
personal work, to secure a small collection of songs and 
hymns written and gathered expressly for evangelistic 
purposes. Not only the congregation by which the work 
is being done, but the character of the unsaved whom it 
is desired to influence, must be taken into account. 

b. Size of Book. Such a book need not contain over a 
hundred selections. Really, a score of well selected re- 
vival numbers would be sufficient under ordinary circum- 
stances, as a few favourites will naturally be sung over 
and over, while the less attractive songs will have less 
power to impress and will incite less general participation. 

c. Three Classes of Songs Called for. An evangelistic 


*It should be strongly emphasised that these evangelistic song 
books are not to be used in the regular church services after the 
evangelistic campaign is over. They are too limited in their 
range of ideas and experiences and too lacking in the substantial 
elements of the church song to be continued in use. 


344 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


song book should contain three classes of songs; the old 
standard hymns, the current popular Gospel songs, and an 
assortment of attractive new pieces. A new song that is 
really attractive is a wonderful force in a meeting, a force 
even greater than that of a better song already well used. 
It arrests attention; the people will sing a new song at 
home, on the street, about their work, thus linking their 
thoughts abidingly with the meeting and advertising it 
and creating interest in it. 

d. It Should Be Well-balanced in Its Subjects. In 
analysing the character of books considered for this use, 
care should be taken to exclude mere haphazard collec- 
tions of the editor’s favourites. For the early meetings of 
the series, there should be songs of consecration and in- 
spiration for the Christian workers. The songs of inspi- 
ration should be stirring and emotional, full of the 
physical stimulus of rhythm, as well as of striking appeal 
of sentiment. Then there should be hymns of prayer, 
hymns to and concerning the Holy Spirit, hymns of faith, 
courage and love. 

For the unconverted, there should be songs of warning, 
of invitation, of exhortation, the more striking and im- 
pressive the better. These may be songs for general use 
or for solos, duets, or quartets. They must be songs that 
will “find” the people to be reached, appealing to their 
tender sympathies, their love of mother, father, wife or 
child, their fear of death and the hereafter. 

Here is no place for dainty taste or personal fastidious- 
ness, whether musical or literary. Let it be reiterated 


?“Yet, after the musician has vented his spleen upon this de- 
generate psalmody (i. ¢., Gospel songs), an important fact re- 
mains. Music in worship is a means, not an end, and we are 
bound to consider how far these tunes serve their ends in mission 
work, which, after all, has not musical training for its object so 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL MUSIC B45 


and reemphasised—it is the point of view of the unsaved, 
and the point of touch with those who are to be reached 
that will determine the standard to be observed, not that 
of the Christian worker. 

A blank book into which the musical pastor, or the sing- 
ing evangelist, can paste the Gospel solos he sings is very 
desirable. The loose leaf variety will be most practical. 
Really, there should be two copies made in order to pro- 
vide for the accompanist. 


3. METHOD AND SPIRIT OF LEADERSHIP 


a. Freedom of Program. What has already been said 
regarding the methods to be used in congregational and 
solo singing in general, applies to evangelistic singing in 
an intensified degree. A larger liberty, a greater freedom 
from a prescribed program, is not only permissible, but 
peremptorily necessary. Listening to some evangelistic 
singers with their almost scolding demands for everyone 
to sing, their trifling witticisms, their exaggerated and ful- 
some praise of the singing of the people, one is apt to 
wonder how the work can prosper; but it does prosper, 
and in part because of the very liberties the leader takes 
with the people. 

b. Spirituality Needed. The sheer secularity of some 
of the leaders of Gospel song, who seem to be conducting 
an old-fashioned singing school instead of a religious ser- 
vice, repels one. If they would add to their strong lead- 
ership an element of spirituality, and secure general 
participation, not by railing and scolding, but by creating 
much as the kindling of the divine spark in the hearts of the 
worshippers. Without doubt these songs touch the common 
throng; they catch the words to which they are sung and carry 
them.”—J. S. Curwen in “ Studies in Worship Music.” Second 
Series. 


346 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


spiritual interest, they could certainly be more efficient 
and inspiring. 

c. Emotional Singing Called for. Evangelistic singing, 
therefore, must be emotional singing. We may imitate 
Isaac Walton’s famous remark and say that doubtless 
God could give the showers of blessing despite slow, spir- 
itless singing, but also doubtless God rarely does. But 
where there is objection to spirited popular singing there 
is usually also objection to evangelistic methods in general, 
and for the same reason—that it is distasteful and uncon- 
genial to minds governed by regularity, decent order and 
invariable convention. One might as well object to one’s 
skeleton as to criticise such persons. ‘They give character, 
rigidity, and form to the life of the church and of the 
community. But the skeleton is not the source of the 
active, aggressive, conquering life of the body! 


B. MUSIC IN THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL 


1. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MINISTER 


While the minister will hardly exercise direct authority 
over the music in the Sunday-school, he ought to have a 
large influence upon its character. Unable to entirely 
escape responsibility, he should have a definite conception 
of what music ought to be used and how it is most likely 
to be made effective in his particular school. 

Let us analyse the situation and seek the underlying 
facts that should determine his judgment. 


2. THe UNDERLYING Facts 
a. A School is Not a Service. The Sunday-school is a 
school, not a devotional worship. Worship is incidental, 
therefore, and not its characteristic feature. The didactic, 
hortatory attitude governs throughout, and will naturally 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL MUSIC 347 


affect the choice of the hymns to be used. Purely de- 
votional songs may be freely used, but it should be 
clearly recognised as educational, the purpose being to 
store the minds of the children with the great hymns of 
the church for the enrichment of their future religious 
experience. 

b. Character of Hymns for Sunday-school Use. The 
hymns used must be largely didactic, hortatory and inspi- 
rational. That is the spirit of the assembly of younger 
and older people. The scholars are learning, the teachers 
are teaching, and the singing must be adapted to the gen- 
eral attitude. An occasional evangelistic song may be use- 
ful, but it is a mistake to make all the songs used of that 
character. A certain proportion of standard hymns may 
be used, if their meaning is made clear, and if an effort is 
made to memorise them. 

c. Hymns Must Be Within the Comprehension of 
Children. Whatever the kind of hymns used in the 
Sunday-school, they must be within the comprehension 
and the plane of interest of young people and children. 
A great hymn may mean less to a child than a shallow one, 
because the chief meaning may lie below the line of its 
present mental and spiritual horizon. For a child of ten, 
“Jesus Loves Me, This I Know,” has more value than 
“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” magnificent as the 
latter hymn is for the inspiration of adult Christians. 
Simple hymns for the little ones, tangible, concrete, prac- 
tical hymns for the older children and young people, and 
a sufficient portion of stronger hymns for the adult por- 
tion of the school, will form a varied diet in which all will 
find nourishment and strength. As the needs of the older 
persons in the school are largely met in the services of the 
church, a Sunday-school hymnal must contain chiefly ma- 
terials adapted to the tastes of the younger members of 


348 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


the school, and to the stage of their mental, artistic, and 
spiritual development. 

d. Songs Must Appeal to Children. Furthermore, 
hymns for the use of children and young people must 
have a certain spontaneity, vivacity, and freedom of style 
not found in the hymns of the church. Their rhythms 
must be more varied and lively. Their phraseology must 
not only be more simple in vocabulary and less stilted in 
style, but more catchy in expression and more remember- 
able. The meaning must lie on the surface, evident and 
plain, not delicately hidden away in the folds of phrase- 
ology characterised by picturesqueness or preciosity. 

e. Songs May Be Commonplace. Fortunately, the 
commonplaces of life are still fresh and vital to the chil- 
dren, and, still more fortunately, it is these very common- 
places that the children must acquire, if they would attain 
clearness of vision and build up strength of character. 
Let us, therefore, put away the egotism of judging every- 
thing by our own pleasure in it, and be content that our 
children sing many hymns that do not appeal to our own 
more sophisticated taste. 

f. Music Must Appeal. Still keeping in mind the fact 
that persons whom the Sunday-school is chiefly to help 
are young and active, we inevitably reach the conclusion 
that the music to be used must be bright and lively, full of 
striking rhythms and creating spirit and enthusiasm. Pro- 
nounced march rhythms are entirely in order, as they are 
spontaneous among the young. Dance and waltz rhythms 
are more complicated and do not so much appeal to chil- 
dren. At the same time, all songs in three-four time with 
a bright movement are not necessarily objectionable. 

g. Heavy Sunday-school Hymnals. In their devotion 
to artistic and literary standards some ministers consci- 
entiously urge the introduction of Sunday-school hymnals — 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL MUSIC 349 


filled with heavy hymns set to heavier music. Here and 
there a school with unusual musical resources, with an 
unusually patient, persistent and efficient leader, or with a 
large percentage of children of foreign parents aécus- 
tomed to slow, heavy, religious music, can make a fairly 
successful use of such a book. But the result in the 
average school is poor, listless singing and general apathy 
in the school’s whole activity. It is a great mistake to use 
a song book below the level of the average culture of the 
scholars in the Sunday-school, but it is a more common 
mistake to use a dull, heavy book, because it is supposed 
to represent a higher literary and musical standard. 

h, Music in the Departmental Sunday-school. ‘The 
foregoing conclusions apply to the average Sunday-school. 
When we reach the large graded schools with entirely 
separate departments, the same principles apply, but the 
situation differs. Here we may have three song books of 
different grades, Primary, Intermediate and Adult, con- 
taining different grades of song. When we reach the 
Adult Department, we can use a heavier hymnal contain- 
ing a much larger proportion of standard hymns. But 
even here the purely devotional and worshipful hymns are 
not to be freely used; rather, there is an emphasis of the 
stimulating, stirring, hortatory and instructional hymns, 
including the more thoughtful but popular Sunday-school 
songs, for even the adults are studying, not praying. 


3. THE Sone LEADER 
a. The Superintendent as Song Leader. ‘The school 
should have a regular leader for its music. ‘That leader 
may be the superintendent, if he is musically competent. 
This arrangement has many great advantages in its 
favour ; there is more unity of purpose; the superintend- 
ent is already in the saddle and is free to use many expedi- 


850 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


ents to add interest, and to take extra time occasionally 
for practice. 

b. The Leader Should be Master of the Situation. 
Whoever the leader is, official or unofficial, he ought to be 
master of the situation. This is even more true in a 
Sunday-school than in a miscellaneous congregation. It 
takes pronounced, live leadership to hold the mercurial 
attention of the children. They will bear criticism and 
even scolding, but they will not bear dull helplessness or 
flabbiness of character. 

c. Unexpected Methods Valuable. The more surprises 
a chorister can spring upon his school, and the more un- 
usual and unexpected are the methods which he can use 
to make his share of the service fresh arid unhackneyed, 
the greater will be the interest aroused, and, therefore, the 
more general will be the participation of the school. Some 
phases of Sunday-school work will bear a certain amount 
of routine without suffering, but its music, never! 


4, SuPPoRTING INSTRUMENTS 


a. The Piano. Owing to the markedly rhythmical char- 
acter of Sunday-school music, the piano is a better instru- 
ment for accompaniment than the organ. A combination 
of the two will be found quite effective. The difficulty in 
that case is to keep the piano in tune with the organ, the 
variations of temperature during the winter making a 
certain variation of pitch in the former instrument almost 
inevitable. 

b. Orchestral Instruments. If orchestral instruments 
can be secured in addition to the piano, they will add 
richness and colour to the general effect. Stringed instru- 
ments and wood wind instruments, such as flute, clari- | 
nets, and oboes, are always desirable in any reasonable 
number. ‘The same is not true of the brass wind instru- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL MUSIC 351 


ments, which unfortunately are more common. A school 
or congregation must be exceedingly large to call for 
more than one cornet. 

c. Excessive Instrumental Support. Zeal to build up 
the music sometimes leads to the quite common mistake of 
drowning out the singing of the school by excessive in- 
strumental support. Where a competent precentor is 
leading, it may be well to provide a few more violins and 
clarinets, or flutes and, if really needed, an extra cornet. 
In general, avoid making the instruments obtrusive and 
prominent. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. What is the purpose of an evangelistic campaign? 

. What factors condition a decision to accept Christ? 

. What is the function of emotion in evangelistic work? 

. How do evangelistic songs operate psychically? 

. How can evangelistic services succeed without regular 

preaching? 

6. Why is a special song book necessary in an evangelistic 
campaign? 

7. What are the essential characteristics of such a book? 

8. What is the spirit of evangelistic singing? 

9. What methods need to be used? 

10. What must characterise evangelistic singing? 

11. What differentiates a Sunday-school from a church service? 

12. Given a school and children, what should be the character 
of the hymns? 

13. Why may such hymns be commonplace? 

14. What is the result of using heavy hymnals in the Sunday- 
school ? 

15. State the characteristics of a good leader of Sunday-school 
music? 

16. What instruments should be used to support the voices? 


wn SB & DH 


XXVIII 
THE SONG SERVICE 


Class Room Suggestions: Have the students prepare programs 
of the various types of song services, using the hymnal as a basis 
for part of them and a Gospel song book for the rest. Bring out 
the psychological reactions of the several items in each, and criti- 
cise the construction of the program on that basis. 


Before taking up the discussion of the song service, it 
may be well to study the evening service again from a 
different point of view. The reasons for its differenti- 
ation from the morning service and the methods of secur- 
ing the needed variations need further emphasis. Only 
thus can we reach the fullest justification of the service 
of song. 


1. Two Sunpay SERVICES 

a. Futility of Two Similar Services Each Sunday. No 
one will deny that variety adds interest and that routine 
dissipates it. That is a commonplace so bald that the 
average preacher would resent it as an insult to his intelli- 
gence to dwell upon it. Yet that same minister will have 
two churches services every Sunday in the year as exactly 
alike as two peas in a pod, and will then complain that 
not only outsiders, but his own people as well, fail to 
attend both. 

One looks in vain through the Bible to find any rule, 
Jewish or Christian, making two exactly similar services 
every Sunday obligatory. Church disciplines contain no 
law requiring them. Yet in spite of lack of authority or 
of adequate reason for it, probably a hundred thousand 


352 


THE SONG SERVICE 353 


preachers in this land lay upon themselves the burden of 
preparing two sermons each week, when probably one 
would usually be amply sufficient. Just think of a hun- 
dred thousand useless, futile sermons every Sunday ! 

Does not the very statement of the facts suggest that 
these communities will only support properly a single 
service stich as we call regular? Is it not easy to take the 
next step and infer—not, as we practically do in summer- 
time in our cities, that a second service is unnecessary— 
but that the second service should be different in method 
and character ? 3 

b. The Purpose of the Evening Service. Little by little, 
many of our churches have confined all their hopes and 
efforts for the salvation of the unsaved to their Sunday- 
school scholars. A minister once stated publicly, that it 
was impossible to get any conversions outside of the 
Sunday-school, and that, therefore, he deprecated any 
efforts to secure the attendance of adults at a revival ser- 
vice that was contemplated. In a sense he was right, for 
at his evening services he had an empty house, no efforts 
having been made to attract the unconverted people of the 
community. 

The aggressive, versatile, musical pastor has no diffi- 
culty in filling his evening services with unconverted peo- 
ple. He baits his hook for them, and they come in throngs, 
It is no particular miracle that his church grows by leaps 
and bounds, for when his revival meetings begin it is easy 
fishing in that crowded evening service. ‘The Sunday- 
school and the evening congregation are the two feeders 
of the church, its two opportunities for building up the 
life and working strength of the congregation. 

c. Emphasising the Evening Service. Most ministers 
look upon the morning service as the principal service and 
concentrate their time and energies in preparing for that, 


354 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


giving the evening service what of strength and material 
remains. That this is a wrong policy, subordinating the 
saving of the lost sheep to the care of the ninety-nine 
safe in the fold, hardly needs discussion. The evening 
service calls for more fertility of resources, and alert- 
ness of mind than the somewhat standardised morning 
service. There is greater need of originality and fresh- 
ness of method. 


2. GIVING VARIETY To THE EVENING SERVICE 


a. Varying the Topics. A previous full discussion of 
the free order of service, in its relation to the securing of 
a larger evening attendance, makes necessary here an ap- 
proach from a new angle. The addresses or sermons in 
the evening should be based on concrete and every-day 
topics, treated in a less sermonic style and with a more 
popularly appealing treatment. 

There is a long list of special days that can be best ob- 
served in an evening service. The alert-minded minister 
will find special denominational and local days and anni- 
versaries to commemorate. Merely to preach a formal 
discourse bearing on these occasions is not enough. Gray 
matter must be lavished in providing matter and methods 
that are appealing to the eye and ear, to the mind and 
heart, of the people. 

There is abundant and varied music for all these festival 
days. Publishers vie with each other every year in issuing 
new and attractive solos, duets, quartets, anthems, cantatas 
and Sunday-school services for the more important days. 
They cater to all tastes and capacities, so that, no matter 
what the circumstances, there is plenty of music available. 


3. Sonc SERVICES 
a. A Great Variety of Song Service Possible. In a 


THE SONG SERVICE 355 


previous chapter it was suggested that a wise preacher 
will vary his services, making the purpose of each service 
the arbiter of its form, method and content. Some ser- 
vices will have little music, and much sermon, because the 
subject demands more time for the consideration of its 
theme, while others will have a great amount of. music 
and a very short sermon. 

The next step will be to make the music the vehicle of 
the evening’s message, and to feature a song service.t 
This may range from a mere religious “ sing-song ” made 
up of miscellaneous numbers sung by the congregation, to 
a more unified program with a definite subject and a more 
clearly defined purpose of information or inspiration. 

b. Song Service of Inspiration. There may be a ser- 
vice with an unusual amount of singing and a short ser- 
mon. ‘There is no effort to arrange the selections in a 
logical order, and there is little or tio talk outside of the 
comment upon the numbers rendered. The choir can re- 
produce anthems sung in preceding regular services, and 
the soloists can sing effective numbers already rendered. 
By choosing the congregational hymns with reference to 


* Dr. Cleland B. McAfee gives his experience with song services 
in “The Choir Leader,” and whatever this distinguished musical 
minister says about music in the church service, calls for atten- 
tion: “Note the difference between the regular service and this 
special musical service. Ordinarily the music must be selected 
with a view to the theme of instruction, which is to be presented 
in the sermon; that is, the theme of the music is determined by 
the theme of the sermon. It gives the minister his chance to 
make of the service a piece of worship rather than a concert. He 
can point out how the anthems and solos and hymns work to- 
gether, and can suggest to the people what impression they should 
seek to have when the service is over. If the minister has had 
opportunity to study the words of the music beforehand, he will 
be able in a few sentences to point out the important impression 
which the music is intended to illustrate and enforce.” 


356 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


the theme of the service and by appropriate turns of 
thought bringing some sort of relation between the subject 
of the evening and the choir and solo contributions, a cer- 
tain amount of unity may be secured. 

The miscellaneous song service calls for no special 
theme to which the individual numbers are subordinated. 
It has the advantage of permitting a great many miscel- 
laneous hymnological and musical facts of more or less 
general interest. Its chief purpose, however, is inspira- 
tion and emotionalisation. ; 

A very effective form is the “ favourite hymn ” service 
made up of hymns chosen by the audience. A call may be 
publicly made on the previous Sunday for the favourite 
hymns of the individual members of the congregation to 
be handed to the pastor with names attached. In select- 
ing from these, two considerations should be given weight: 
the number of votes given the individual hymns and the 
effectiveness of comment possible to the several hymns. 
With each hymn the person selecting it may be asked to 
state why it appeals to him. This will presently get stiff 
and it is better to take ten minutes to let the voters spon- 
taneously volunteer the reasons or experiences that led to 
their choice. 

In responsive audiences, the services may be purely 
spontaneous, simply singing the hymns suggested by per- 
sons in the congregation, and improvising such comment 
and illustration as may be suggested on the spur of the 
moment. ‘This lazy way of holding a song service has its 
dangers, unless the minister has read widely on the sub- 
ject of hymnology or has a genius for illustrative anecdote. 

A better way of constructing an inspirational song ser- 
vice is to have a list of anthems and solo numbers to be 
supplied by the choir and then find a general topic under 
which they can be coordinated, turning to the hymnal for 


THE SONG SERVICE 357 


the missing points which will round out the subject. With 
a definite theme and a definite purpose, with pointed and 
earnest comment on the hymns and choir numbers to 
focus them on the desired objective, with material so ar- 
ranged as to produce a cumulative effect and a strong cli- 
max, such a service may have a greater unity and a greater 
inspirational value than a sermon on the same topic. 

c. Song Services of Instruction. Instructional song 
services may be used to give the congregation needed in- 
formation regarding the history and authorship of hymns, 
individually or collectively. A series of them may be 
given entitled “ Kvenings with the Sacred Poets,” giving 
an evening to each of the leading hymn writers from 
Moses to Washington Gladden or Fanny Crosby. A re- 
view of their life work, the singing of their best hymns by 
the congregation, by the choir, or by individual voices, 
with comments upon their individual type of piety, or 
upon their literary style, can be made attractive and 
profitable. 

The same methods may be used regarding the com- 
posers of hymn tunes and Gospel songs ranging from 
Martin Luther to Chas. H. Gabriel. Where the material 
for personal review is scant, periods or schools may be 
considered. A service devoted to the learning of some 
new hymn tunes may be made interesting by discussing 
the composers and their work, or by commenting upon the 
hymns to which the new tunes are to be sung. 

Both devotional and cultural results may be secured by 
means of cantatas and smaller oratorios sung by the choir, 
and linking these with their Bible sources. One choir 
sang selections from Bradbury’s cantata, “ Esther,” and 
the pastor preached a short sermon on that charming char- 
acter. ‘“ Ruth,” “ The Feast of Belshazzar,” ‘“ Israel in 
Egypt,” “ Joshua,” and others may be treated in the same 


358 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


way. One pastor who had a large chorus choir divided up 
“The Messiah ” into sections, using Nos. 1 to 7 inclusive 
for Advent, Nos. 8 to 17 inclusive for Christmas, Nos. 22 
to 32 inclusive for Passion-tide, Nos. 44 to 55 inclusive for 
Easter, Nos. 33 to 36 inclusive and Nos. 44 and 55 to the 
end for Ascension Day. This opens out large possibili- 
ties with other oratorios. 

d. Merely Cultural Aims Not Admissible. To make 
these song services purely educational and cultural is a 
serious misuse of the religious opportunity the church ser- 
vice affords. ‘To sing and play the grand masterpieces of 
religious music is a good work well worth doing, but it is 
not a work for church services. It is in place to reiterate 
that the standard is not one of artistic excellence, but of 
practical and spiritual efficiency. The church is not God’s 
agency for the spread of beauty, but for the development 
of personal righteousness and of loyalty to Him. 


4. “SacreEp Concerts ” 


If devotees of the regular church service look somewhat 
askance at the song service, which may be given value in 
making the musical service of the church more genuine 
and effective, what have they to say regarding the “ sacred 
concert’? It frequently presents merely secular music, 
with only religious numbers enough to give it a homeo- 
pathic flavour of devoutness. Sometimes the music is all 
religious in text, but not in rendering. 

The very name is suggestive of personal vanity and dis- 
play. If you call a song service a “ sacred concert ” there 
is something lost. The idea of personal pleasure is substi- 
tuted for the idea of worship, and, in spite of the sacred 
character of the music, the whole attitude is one of selfish 
pleasure, not of humble devotion. Richard Storrs Willis 
recognised the difficulty: “It is a difficult thing to be 


THE SONG SERVICE 359 


musically gratified and entertained and to be worshipping 
God at the same time.” 

The song sermon, and even the song service is very 
valuable and ought to be used very much oftener than it 
now is, even in the most musical churches; but it should 
never, either unconsciously or consciously, degenerate into 
a “sacred concert.” 

The music in a song service and a “ sacred concert” 
may be exactly the same, but the underlying purpose and 
spirit are as wide apart as the antipodes. While a few 
persons may get good out of a sacred concert, because 
they bring a religious spirit to its hearing, and so exalt it 
to the higher plane, what about the other hearers who 
attend “ for the fun of the thing”? 


‘6 


9. SUGGESTIVE OUTLINE OF A SERVICE 


Perhaps it will be suggestively helpful to give a report 
of a Thanksgiving song service the writer held some years 
ago. The pastor asked for it during the middle of the 
week, so there had been but one rehearsal with the chorus 
choir. Several anthems of praise rendered during the pre- 
ceding month were freshened up and a new one was 
learned. The solo work during the same time was can- 
vassed, and selections were made that would fit into such a 
service. As two of the soloists were out of the city, word 
was sent them to supply solos, trusting to Providence that 
they would prove fitting. What they finally brought in had 
no evident relation to Thanksgiving at all, but they were 
made to serve the purpose. The general idea of Thanks- 
giving dominated the program, of course, but there was no 
effort to secure relation between the separate numbers. 

In opening the service, it was suggested ‘that as the min- 
ister was the mouthpiece of the congregation before God 
in prayer, so the choir was its representative before Him 


360 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


in praise. A few earnest words on the actual divine pres- 
ence were followed by the “ Gloria” and a short Thanks- 
giving invocation. The Forty-eighth Psalm was read re- 
sponsively, to which succeeded an anthem, “The Lord 
Reigneth.” The congregational hymn, “ Lift Up the 
Gates of Praise,” was followed by prayer by the pastor. 
After the anthem, “Bonum Est,” another responsive 
Psalm, the one hundred and third, was read. 

Up to this point there had been general praise and 
thanksgiving and only enough comment to inspire thought- 
fulness and sincerity. Before the tenor and soprano sang 
Sir Henry Smart’s duet, “The Lord is My Shepherd, No 
Want Shall I Know,” the loyalty of a sheep to its shepherd 
was referred to, and how, being dumb, its eyes yet spoke 
of appreciation and gratitude for tender care and pro- 
vision. There was no evidence of a critical attitude in the 
congregation, but an earnest responsiveness to the mes- 
sage. A tenor solo on “ My Mother’s Prayer,” illustrated 
another reason for thanksgiving: religious home in- 
fluences. A tenor and alto duet, a setting of Tennyson’s 
“Crossing the-Bar,” at first looked out of place, but by 
means of proper comment fell into its place and gave an- 
other and pathetic touch, for it was made the basis of 
thanksgiving that we should 


“ Meet our Pilot face to face, 
When we have crossed the bar.” 


A soprano soloist immediately sang a very tender dream 
of heaven in a spontaneous, inspired way and there was 
thanksgiving for the home that awaits those who are 
faithful. A men’s quartet sang very tenderly “ Face to 
Face,” as the chief joy of heaven to be thankful for in 
advance. Thus the most inappropriate numbers, two of 
them brought in after the service was just ready to begin, 


THE SONG SERVICE 361 


were so applied and commented upon that they became the 
most striking and impressive parts of the whole program. 

After a half hour of addresses—twice as long as was 
intended—expressions of thanksgiving by representatives 
of different parts of the church life and work, the con- 
gregation was called upon to give thanks that they were 
neither Turks nor Hottentots, Germans, nor Englishmen, 
nor members of any other nation or race, but plain Ameri- 
cans, and all sang with great vigour, “ My Country, ’Tis 
of Thee.” After the benediction, the eagerness of spirit, 
and the assurances of personal help and _ inspiration, 
proved that the purpose of the service had been realised, 
at least to some degree. 

To criticise this service is easy. ‘That is the reason it is 
chosen as an illustration. There was not enough congre- 
gational singing. Two hymns and»two anthems by the 
choir were crowded out by persons who took ten minutes 
each to make the suggested three-minute talks. But in 
spite of its manifest shortcomings, the service was effec- 
tive and illustrated what could be done with the most 
untoward materials. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


1. Why are two similar services on Sunday likely to be futile? 

2. How should the evening service differ from that of the 
morning? 

3. What should be made the purpose of the evening service? 

4. In what way should its exercises be varied? . 

5. What differing types of song services may be employed? 

6. How can the inspirational song service be best constructed? 

7. What is the danger in the “ spontaneous ” song service? 

8. What varied results may be secured from the instructional 
song service? 

9. Why are sacred concerts not permissible. 

0. What are the weak points of the suggested song service? 


XXIX 
THE SONG SERMON 


Class Room Suggestions: The students of the class should be 
asked to bring in outlines of song sermons, including the titles of 
the hymns and numbers to be sung. Catalogues of music publish- 
ers can be consulted for anthems, and solo numbers. If at all 
possible a model song sermon should be preached and sung, led by 
one of them, co-operating with some invited choir. A prayer 
meeting talk can be given with the help of the class alone, as 
there need be no choir or solo assistance. 


1, Tue DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SONG SERVICE AND 
THE SONG SERMON 


It will be a short step from the organised song service 
to the song sermon, yet they are essentially different. In 
the song service the music is the fundamental factor and 
the speaking parts are merely incidental enforcement and 
comment upon the musical numbers. In the song sermon 
the sermon is the controlling element and the music is 
merely illustrative and incidental material. This distinc- 
tion is important. 


2. THE VALUE oF THE Sonc SERMON 


a. General Attractiveness. The song sermon has noy- 
elty enough to attract a large audience, without any sen- 
sationalism that will offend fastidious people. It gives 
the opportunity for wide participation on the part of the 
church, so much desired in recent years, 

b. Emotional Power. It appeals to the emotional na- 
tures of an average congregation much more powerfully 
than can any sermon to their minds. It makes possible 
the treatment of some subjects of a tender and sympa- 


362 


THE SONG SERMON 363 


thetic character that no regular sermon can successfully 
present. 

c. The Importance of Utilising Emotion. Of course, 
there are men who live in a thin, serene atmosphere of 
intellectual interest, who deprecate any appeal to the senti- 
ments and hence would seriously object to the song ser-. 
mon and its proposed effects. 

Such men are blind to the possibilities of good that lie 
in the utilisation of this fundamental faculty of the human 
organisation. The wiser man, on the contrary, believes 
that God knew what He was doing when He made the 
emotions an essential part of our natures, and hence is 
willing to accept the limitations and to utilise the powers 
of these emotions as freely as he does those of the intel- 
lect. The song sermon is an appeal to the emotional 
nature and, if properly planned and conducted, it has, as 
such, a value and an effectiveness that should be empha- 
sised and commended. 


3. THE STRUCTURE OF THE SONG SERMON 


a. Introduction. The exercises introductory to such a 
song sermon should be worshipful, of course, but they 
should be in absolute harmony of feeling with it. If 
“ Marching Orders” is the aggressive missionary theme, 
there may be a magnificent Te Deum, Venite, or Jubilate 
by the choir, and jubilant hymns of devotion, such as 
“Hark! Ten Thousand Harps and Voices,” or “Oh, 
Could I Speak the Matchless Worth,” by the congregation. 
If the theme is “ Songs in the Night,” the opening will be 
still worshipful, but sweet and tender, harmonising with 
the consolation and comfort brought to those who sing 
songs in the night of affliction, sorrow, and difficulty, 

b. The Choice of Theme. ‘The choice of the theme is 
very important, Historical subjects are not entirely out 


864 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


of the question, but call for a keen eye for the dramatic 
and emotional phases. The lives of Joseph, Moses, Ruth, 
David, present situations that could find hymnic and musi- 
cal expression. Themes that are purely didactic are next 
to impossible. “The Reconciliation of Paul’s Emphasis 
on Faith and of James’ Emphasis on Works ” would pre- 
sent few angles on which hymns could be hung. As 
already suggested, there must be a certain emotional con- 
tent in order to give the song element something to ex- 
press. “ Joy in Christ” would be entirely practicable, but 
“The Joy of Trust” would be too limited in scope, as it 
probably would not be possible to find the materials with 
which to cover the points one would care to discuss under 
the theme. 

c. Securing Needed Music. Perhaps the wisest plan is 
to take some very general theme—“ Salvation,” “ Coming 
to Christ,” “ Consecration,” “ The Holy War,” “In the 
Vineyard,” “Trusting Christ,” “The Divine Love,” 
“ Watchfulness,” ‘ Prayer and Its Answer,” “ Persever- 
ance of the Saints,” “ Sustaining Grace,” “The Way to 
Calvary,”—and go over the musical resources at hand. It 
may be found that some of these subjects can be subdi- 
vided, limiting them more definitely, and so making them 
more striking and impressive. If the preacher does not 
know the resources of the choir, he had better formulate 
and analyse several subjects and submit them to the choir 
leader, who can decide for which of them he can furnish 
the most illustrative music: solos, duets, quartets and 
other concerted numbers. 

d. The Outline Should Be Sketchy, Not Detailed. The 
preacher who has acquired the analytical habit of mind 
will be in danger of laying out his plans too logically. The 
treatment should not be minutely analytical, but sketchy in 
character. The resources in hymn book and choir reper- 


THE SONG SERMON 365 


toire are too general in matter for anything more than a 
suggestive development. 

It should be emphasised that a closely logical treatment 
of the subject is not possible. The more important matter 
is the transition from one point to another, and the clear 
relation of a musical number to that which precedes, to 
that which follows, or, better yet, to both. While the 
treatment must have progress, that progress should be 
emotional rather than logical. There should be climaxes 
of interest, but each climax should be a distinct advance 
upon the one that went before. 

e. Two Ways of Using Musical Numbers. The hymns 
and other musical numbers selected may be used in two 
ways: to present the points of development directly, or to 
illustrate them. The former is somewhat the more effec- 
tive, but the latter the more convenient, for it makes pos- 
sible the use of subjects otherwise impossible. Many a 
hymn or song, that on the surface would have little rele- 
vancy, can be used with good results, simply as an illus- 
tration of a phase of a much more extensive thought 
developed by the preacher’s comment. 

f. How to Secure Emotional Progress. Indeed, only in 
this way can the necessary emotional progress be secured 
in many cases, for the direct emotional value of a given 
leading division of thought may be less than that of others 
which have preceded it, and it will therefore peremptorily 
demand from the musical numbers such emotional supple- 
menting. Here is the place for fertility of mind, quick- 
ness of apprehension, and readiness of adaptation. 


4. SELECTION oF Music 
a. Variety Needful. In the selection of the music great 
care must be taken to provide variety. The congregation 
should have at least one-third, if not one-half, of the pro- 


366° SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


gram in familiar hymns and songs. ‘The choir should 
have perhaps half of what remains for purely chorus 
work. The rest of the program may be made up of solo 
numbers for one or more parts. 

b. The Style of the Music. No set, artistic music 
should be allowed. We are not discussing an artistic 
sacred concert, but a song sermon, in which the matter 
and manner are subordinated to the result to be reached. 
Avoid music that the congregation cannot appreciate. 


5. EFFECTIVE HANDLING OF MATERIALS 


a. Unifying Materials. The chosen hymns, responsive 
reading, songs, anthems, solos and other matter having 
been arranged, it remains for the preacher to weld them 
all together into a unified whole. He will read so much 
of the hymns and texts as serves his purpose, perhaps 
illustrating these with anecdotes and historical or per- 
sonal events, but never leaving out of sight the leading 
thought of his discourse as he proceeds. He will read the 
texts of the music sung by the choir and by the soloists 
and bring to bear the thought conveyed and the feeling 
expressed. Not that he is to talk incessantly and length- 
ily, but he must use the combined resources of eloquence 
and music to make a definite spiritual impression. 

b. Transitions from Sermon to Song. Perhaps the 
most difficult part will be the graceful, spontaneous lead- 
ing up to the hymn or text to be sung. To drag it in by 
brute force is to lose its value. The preacher will not per- 
mit any of the usual formulas of introduction to interrupt. 
The singers are nothing, it is the message that counts; the 
acquired momentum must not be retarded for a moment. 
As soon as the last note is sung, the preacher must go on 
knitting the music just sung to what he has to say, allow- 
ing no hiatus. 


THE SONG SERMON 367 


If the congregation is to sing a hymn, its number should 
be given incidentally a minute or two before they sing, the 
preacher going in with his reading of the hymn and his 
comment upon it. There should be not a moment of wait- 
ing for the people to be ready. That would be fatal to the 
steady increase of emotional temperature. 

Awkward pauses must be absolutely avoided. The or- 
ganist must have his music arranged before him, and his 
fingers on the keys, the choir must be ready to sing as soon 
as they can catch the pitch when the minister gives the 
signal of glance or position. The choir leader and organ- 
ist each must have a program in hand and keep close watch 
upon it, so as to be ready on the instant when the preacher 
calls for the music. Every member of the choir should 
have a copy of the program in hand. The organist should 
eliminate all the preludes and be content with a single 
chord to give the pitch. This is as true with the congrega- 
tional singing as with the choir. There should be a signal 
agreed upon by which the preacher can stop the music in- 
stantly at a given point, should he wish to interject a bit 
of comment. 

c. The Treatment Should Be Free and Spontaneous. 
He should avoid a spiritless, mechanical treatment as he 
would sin. Sometimes he will announce the song first 
with only a few introductory words, and make his ap- 
plication afterwards. Again he will make his remarks 
before he announces the song, or it may best suit his pur- 
pose to introduce his discussion between the verses, 
although never while the congregation is standing. Va- 
ried, sprightly, glowing, anecdotal, or epigrammatic treat- 
ment in a free, spontaneous way is what is needed. 

A song sermon calls for great versatility, pliability, and 
readiness of discourse. It calls for light, deft touches. It 
is sharp-shooting, not bombardment. There is no time for 


868 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


acquiring the momentum the best minds of the phlegmatic 
type find necessary, for while the preacher may occupy 
more than half the time of the sermon, only rarely ought 
he to talk uninterruptedly for five minutes. 

d. The Service Should Be Short. Such a service ought 
not to be too long. One or two anthems, three hymns, 
and one or two solos, or duets, or whatever else is pro- 
vided, will be ample. The very intensity of such a service 
is apt to bring on a reaction if it is continued too long. 

e. A Choir Not Essential, In the foregoing discussion 
the co-operation of a choir has been taken for granted. 
But the choir is by no means essential to the success of a 
song sermon. Some of the most satisfactory song ser- 
mons ever given depended entirely upon the congregation 
for musical support. The lack of variety was the only 
drawback, but that was fully made up by the absence of 
the stiffness and self-consciousness which solo and choir 
numbers are apt to introduce. 


6. ILLUSTRATIVE OUTLINE oF SoNG SERMON 


a. Topic and Subdivisions. Not as a model, but as a 
practical illustration of a song sermon, here is an outline 
of one given with good effect. The organist was asked to 
play a quiet but massive prelude. The general topic was 
“God’s ‘Come’!” It was broadly divided into 


God’s “ Come” to the Unsaved! 
God’s “ Come” to the Backslider; 
God’s “ Come” to the Christian ; 
God’s “ Come” to Final Reward. 


b. Development of Service. Introduction. As an in- 
troduction “ God’s ‘Come’ to Worship” was suggested 
and Heber’s “ Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty ” 


THE SONG SERMON 369 


was announced. At the close of the first verse, the leader 
reconstructed with as few and as vivid words as possible 
the picture of the heavenly adoration as given by John the 
Revelator, and the congregation sang, with a clearer sense 
of the sublimity of the lines, the stanza, 


“ Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, 
Casting down their golden crowns around the 
glassy sea; 
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, 
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.” 


After the hymn the pastor read Matthew 11: 25-30 and 
led in a prayer of mingled worship and thankfulness for 
God’s open door of mercy. After the announcements and 
offertory, and the anthem “Behold, What Manner of 
Love,” the main theme was taken up. 

God’s “ Come” to the Unsaved. God’s “ Come ” to the 
unsaved was prefaced by a clear description of their sepa- 
ration from God, from His infinite store of love and 
sympathy, of help and care, from His messages of mercy, 
from His saints on earth and from His hosts of praise on 
high. Then the congregation sang “ Come, Ye Disconso- 
late.” After a few words of urgent invitation to accept 
Christ, they were asked to adopt the great hymn of Top- 
lady, “ Rock of Ages,” as their own sentiment, the pastor 
reading it with earnest tenderness. Without announce- 
ment or a moment’s delay, the choir sang Dudley Buck’s 
setting of these words. 

God’s “Come” to the Indifferent or Renegade Chris- 
tian. This point was based on Hosea 14:1-7. The pic- 
ture of the backslider was drawn with as fine a definition 
as the speaker’s mental lens would allow, emphasising the 
sin of backsliding with the appropriate passages from the 
tenth chapter of Hebrews. ‘The congregation sang the 


370 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


second, third and fourth verses of “The Backslider’s 
Hymn,” “Oh, for a Closer Walk with God.” Instead of 
this hymn, a soloist might have sung “ Weary of Earth, 
and Laden with My Sin” to the tune found in the hymnal, 
or with some other expressive setting. The opening of 
the door, that had been partly or entirely closed against 
Christ, may now be given expression in the last verse of 
the congregational hymn, “O Jesus, Thou Art Standing.” 

God’s “Come” to the Christian. (a) To a Deeper 
Spiritual Life. In the development of God’s “ Come” to 
Christians to a profounder spiritual life, the minds of the 
Christians present were led first to a contemplation of 
what God had already done for them, and then to a sense 
of still larger possibilities that lay before them, leading up 
to the singing by the congregation of Mrs. Prentiss’ hymn, 
“More Love to Thee, O Christ.” The need of a more 
explicit faith was stressed which led to a setting of Ade- 
laide Proctor’s “I Do Not Ask, O Lord, That Life May 
Be” for a solo voice. The exhortation to strive for this 
spiritual progress culminated in the singing of Dodd- 
ridge’s hymn, “ Awake, My Soul, Stretch Every Nerve,” 
to Handel’s ringing tune, “ Christmas.” 

(b) To Christian Service. But God’s “ Come” to the 
Christian was not only to inner development in grace, but . 
to the labour and battle connected with the advancement 
of His kingdom on earth. A little picture of the great 
army of God keeping step to the rhythm of the unfolding 
of the divine purpose, a little reference to the magnificent 
music of Sullivan, and the congregation sang S. Baring- 
Gould’s “ Onward, Christian Soldiers ” to Sullivan’s “ St. 
Gertrude,” with extraordinary vigour and spirit. 

The minister stopped the singing after the first verse to 
emphasise the spiritual unity of the Christian Church, in 
all lands, in all ages, in all parts of God’s universe, as por- 


THE SONG SERMON 371 


trayed by the second verse. Before the last verse the 
minister again halted the singing to call attention to the 
song of praise sung by the saints as they marched to 
victory. 

God’s “Come” to Final Reward. The military fig- 
ure was carried over into the next division, and the 
splendour of victory was brought out by allusions to the 
triumphal processions after the great wars, both ancient 
and modern, leading up to the congregation’s pealing out 
Dean Alford’s “Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand,” to 
Dyke’s “ Alford.” The “hour and article ” of the passage 
over was tenderly referred to and the choir sang Barnby’s 
setting of Tennyson’s “ Crossing the Bar.” The minister’s 
vivid picture of the welcome awaiting beyond the bar led 
to “ Jerusalem the Golden,” sung by the congregation to 
Ewing’s noble tune. 

The Summing Up. ‘The invitations of God were 
summed up tenderly and impressively and the choir and 
congregation sang Charlotte Elliott’s “Just As I Am 
Without One Plea,” to Bradbury’s tune, “ Woodworth,” 
indicating their individual and collective reply to God’s 
invitation. The benediction followed. 


7. ILLUSTRATIVE OUTLINE OF PRAYER-MEETING 
Sonc TALK 


This same method can be used in prayer-meeting talks 
as well. There will likely be no extra musical help, the 
only dependence being on the people present. This use 
may be best illustrated by the outlines of an actual prayer- 
meeting talk given by the writer some time ago. It is not 
a model; it is only intended to be suggestive. 

His rather hackneyed theme was “ Prayer,” but it 
needed fresh treatment all the more in that the subject had 
become a little worn. 


3872, SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


a. Consciousness of God’s Presence. His first propo- 
sition was that there could be no true prayer without a 
consciousness of God’s presence. The cares of life were 
to be put away. Nothing should hinder those present 
from coming face to face with God. What better way of 
praying for that communion than by singing “Nearer, 
My God, to Thee”? Every verse was freshened up and 
made real with pertinent comment which, of course, can- 
not be reproduced here. 

b. Worship. The next essential of genuine prayer was 
worship. A prayer that does not include adoration of 
God is a mere beggar’s plea for personal favours—selfish 
and self-centered. He asked the people, since God was 
actually present, to worship Him by singing, in a truly 
adoring way, the hymn, “Come, Thou Almighty King,” 
again with illustration and fervent comment. 

At this point one of the members was asked to lead in a 
prayer of pure adoration and worship. ‘This was followed 
by the responsive reading of the Forty-seventh Psalm. 

c, Consciousness of Need. The next essential point in 
prayer was consciousness of need. Dependence on God, 
helplessness without Him, weakness and impotence of 
one’s self, all drive the soul to prayer. This prepared the 
way for the singing of Mrs. Hawk’s “ I Need Thee Every 
Hour,” three verses of which were sung with great earn- 
estness and deep feeling. 

d. Communion with God. But there must be some- 
thing more than a sense of need, something beyond even 
worship. There must be communion with God—comrade- 
ship. We must delight ourselves in sheer companionship 
with God. One verse of “ Sweet Hour of Prayer” was 
then sung and after a few more expressions of delight in 
God, the Gospel song, “ Jesus Is All the World to Me” 
was sung with enthusiasm. 


THE SONG SERMON 373 


e. The Need of Faith. Faith was then emphasised as 
essential; essential to the relation of the soul to God, 
before prayer can be made, essential to the vigour and 
earnestness of the prayer itself; essential as the vehicle 
through which the power of God can be brought into con- 
nection with the desired result of prayer. The congrega- 
tion sang one verse of “ My Faith Looks Up to Thee ” 
and then, after comment on the basis of faith, followed the 
hymn, “ How Firm a Foundation, Ye Saints of the Lord.” 

f. Prayer for One’s Self. The subjects of prayer were 
rapidly considered: “The Prayer for Divine Care” in 
connection with which “God Will Take Care of You” 
was joyously sung. “The Prayer for Divine Guidance ” 
was expressed in the hymn, “ Saviour, Pilot Me.” 

g. Prayer for Others. We have a right to pray for 
ourselves, but not exclusively for ourselves. Anyone 
who prays invariably for himself alone is still in the kin- 
dergarten class in God’s school. Sankey’s song, “ For 
You I Am Praying,” was resurrected and sung with great 
effectiveness. 

h. Prayer for Final Acceptance. This was dwelt upon 
with great earnestness. Death, than which nothing in the 
future is surer, means heaven to the Christian. He should 
dream of it, dwell upon it in his thoughts, plan for it, get 
ready for it. The singing of O’Kane’s “The Home Over 
There ” was dignified but enthusiastic. 

This service lasted exactly sixty minutes. Judging by 
the responsiveness of the people during the meeting and 
by the personal assurances afterwards, it was very helpful, 

In both these programmes, only the thoughts that have 
immediate relation to the hymns are given. A great deal 
of illustrative, didactic and hortatory matter was included 
in the body of the interspersed talks. The points to be 
made and enforced were the controlling spiritual factors, 


874 SPECIAL AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC 


fully outlined in these pages, and the singing was simply 
contributory. 


REVIEW QUESTIONS 


. What is the fundamental difference between the song service 


and the song sermon? 


. What are the advantages of the song sermon? 
. What relation should the introductory exercises have to the 


song sermon? 


. What are the limitations of choice of the themes of a song 


sermon? 


. How shall the needed music be secured? 
. What should be the nature of the sermon outline? 
. In what two ways should the hymns and musical numbers 


be used? 


. How shall emotional progress be secured? 
. What considerations affect the choice of the music? 
. How may the varied materials be unified so as to produce the 


desired effect? 


. What is important in the transition from the spoken sermon 


to its musical numbers? 


. What should be the nature of the treatment of spoken and 


musical materials? 


. How long should such a service be? 

. What can be done in the absence of a choir? 

. What are your criticisms of the suggested outline? 

. How can this method be employed in prayer service? 
. Suggest an outline for a prayer meeting song talk. 


INDEX 


A 


Abide with Me, 186, 200, 286 
Accompanying Solos, 102 
Adaptation of Service to Con- 
gregation, 71 
Addresses, Incidental, 65 
After-Piece, 62 
Amen, Use of at Close of 
Hymns, 209 
American Hymn-Tunes, 166 
Angel Voices, 160 
Anthems: 
Book of, 276 
By the Choir, Chief, 56 
Learning the, 307 
Prelude to, 323 
Spiritual Value of, 51 
Antioch, 159 
Alas, and Did My Savior 
Bleed? 172, 286 
Alexander, Chas, W., 180 
All Hail the Power. of Jesus’ 
Name, 171 
Allon, Dr, 25, 128, 241 
Almsgiving, 171 
Apostles’ Creed, 60 
_Applied Art, Church Music as, 
19 


Arator, 146 

Arpeggio Accompaniment, 106 

Ashford, Mist Feo e2 tt 

Asleep in Jesus, 337 

Aspiration, 158 

Assigning Singers to Proper 
Parts, 240 

Attack and Release, 305 

At the Cross, 172 

Aurelia, 153 

Azmon, 146 


B 


BALANCE of Singers in Choir, 
246 


Barnby, Sir Joseph, 206, 277 
Barton, D.D., Wm. E., 1 6 
Bates, Rev. Dr. Wo i 63 
Baton, Use of, 291 

Beating Time, 292 

Fal Isle of Somewhere, 


Bedford, Rev. Arthur, 107 
ete Henry Ward, 96, 128, 
32 


Behaviour of Choir, 264, 324 
Benediction, Response to, 63 

Benediction, 58 

Benediction, 162 

Best, W. T., 184 

Bevan, 157 

Blending of Voices, 247, 299, 


Biles be the Tie That Binds 
339 


Boy Choir, 229 

Bradbury, Wm. B., 166 

Bread of Heaven, on Thee We 
Feed, 287 

Bread of Life, 166 

Breath Control, 296 

Breed, Dr., 169 

Bridge, Sir Frederic, 110 

Brighten the Corner, 173 

Bringing in the S heaves, 339 

Buck, Dudley, 105 


es] 


Cc 


CANTATAS: 
Effect on Congregation, 335 
Value to the Choir, 334 
Variety in Grade, 335 

Card Index of Musical Inven- 

tory, 27 

Carol, 155 

Chadwick, Dr. Samuel, 169 

Chamberlain, Win By 250 

Children’s Choir, 233 


375 


376 


Choir: 
Advantages of, 216 
And the Congregation, 263 
And the Director, 260 
And the Organist, 261 
And the Pastor, 320 
And the Reformers, 216 
As Leader of Singing, 181 
At Soul Winning, 321 
Behaviour of, 264 
Constitution for, 254 
Creating Material for, 243 
Dress of, 325 
Expenses of, 318 
Finances of, 317 
Forms of, 223 
Helping 

Singing, 133 

In Bible Times, 214 
In Egypt, 214 
In the Early Church, 215 
Misuse of, 221 
Non-Christians in, 250 
Organisation of, 254 
Organising a, 235 
Origin of, 213 
Outside of Service, 320 
Personnel of, 236 
Publicity Man of, 256 
Relation to Pastor, 258 
Religious Training of, 306 
Sacrifice and Reward, 239 
Should be Religious, 251 
Social Life of, 315 
Starting a, 241 
Supplements to, 72 
Trouble in, 323 
True Objective of, 222 

Choir Director: 
His Code of Signals, 290 
His Public Directing, 323 
Importance of, 265 
Traits of Good, 266 
Work of, 272 

Choir Rehearsal: 
Attendance at, 289 
Beginning on Time, 294 
Intermission in, 311 
Instrument Used at, 289 
Length of, 294 


Congregational 


INDEX 


Opening with Prayer, 293 
Place for, 288 
Preparation for, 288 
Preparing Music for, 291 
Time of, 289 

Choir Journal, 276 

Choir Music: 
Forms of, 275 
Selection of, 275 

Choir Sections, 256 

Choir Singing not Harmful, 


Choosing Music to be Sung, 
285 


Chorales, German, 167 
Chorus Choir, 230 
Advantages of, 231 
Difficulties with, 232 
Church Efficiency, Music’s Con- 
tribution to, 20 
Clippinger, D. A., 299 
Closing Music in Evening Ser- 
vice, 75 


Coleridge, 121 


Colla Voce, 103 
ae Thou. Almighty King, 
1 


Commandments, The Ten, 60 
Communion Service, Choir 
Selections for, 286 
Concerts, 335 
Congregational Hymn, the Sec- 
ond, 52 
Congregational Praise Best, 117 
Congregational Rehearsals, 134 
Congregational Singing: 
Act of Worship, 126 
Building up, 127 
Choir as Leader of, 181 
Effect on Minister, 125 
Effect on Singers, 124 
Effect on Unsaved, 124 
Essentials in, 188 
Flatting in, 206 
Ideal Singing, 119 
In Apostolic Age, 120 
In Old Testament, 120 
Instrumental Leadership, 182 
Its Impressiveness, 123 
Its Organising Power, 123 


INDEX 


Methods in, 188 
Ministerial Interest in, 127 
Objections to, 118 
Organ as Leader, 183 
Stimulating Minds of Hear- 
ers, 124 
Coronation, 161, 202 
Crescendo Pedal, Abuse of, 109 
Curwen, Dr. J. S., 6, 24, 86, 
125, 131, 132, 137, 166, 169, 
241, 345 
Cyphering, 88 


D 


Day is Dying in the W est, 286 

Death is Only a Dream, 173 

Dennis, 146, 156 

DePachmann, 95 

Departmental Sunday-school: 
Music in, 349 

Diademata, 170 

Didactic, Intrusion of the, 53 


ee Passages, Learning, 
Director of Choir, Minister 
and, 133 


Double Quartet, 227, 246 
Doxology, Value of, 46 
Dress of Choir, 325 
Duke Street, 168, 170 
Dykes, John R., 169, 170 


E 


Eppy, CLarEeNnce, 109 

Edwards, Prof. B. B., 149 

Edwards, F. G., 6 

Edwards, Jonathan, 122 
Elements in Securing, 20 
Lines of, 19 ' 
Difficult to Determine, 18 

Efficiency in Church Music, 17 

Efficiency Tests in Church 
_ Work, 17 

Ein’ feste Burg, 145 

Ellers, 162, 170 

Emerson, 155 

Emotional Atmosphere 

Through Music, 22 
nae Needed for Decision, 


377 


Emotions, Stirring the, 35 
Engel, Carl, 24, 159, 284 
English Hymn Tunes, 167 
Enunciation, 303 
Evan, 153, 168 
Evangelism, Mission of Song 
in, 341 
Evangelistic Campaign: 
Leading Singing in, 345 
Purpose of, 341 
Evangelistic Singer, 342 
Evangelistic Song Book, 343 
Evangelistic Songs: 
Psychic Side of, 342 
Classes of, 343 
Evening Praise, 153, 166 
Evening Prayer, 166 
Eventide, 153, 170 
Evening Service: 
Emphasising, 353 
Giving Variety to, 354 
Prayers in, 72 
Purpose of, 68, 353 
Scripture Reading in, 72 
Sermon in, 74 
Examination of Organists, 96 
Excell, E. O., 180 
Exchanging Choir Loft, 322 
Expression in Hymn Singing, 
199 
Control of, 200 
Expression, Studying, 311 
Expression, Study of, 305 


F 


Fautts in Organ Playing, 104 
Favorite Hymn Service, 356 
Finances of Choir, 317 
Flatting in Congregational 
Singing, 206 
Causes of, 206 
Cure of, 206 
Fling Out the Banner, 186 
Funeral Hymns, Appropriate, 
339 
Funeral Music, 337 
F pees Music not Depressing, 


378 


G 


GaAuL, Pror. Harvey B., 185 

Gauntlet, Dr., 25, 169 

German Melodies, 167 

Germany, 153 

ie ti the Wings of Faith, 
9 


Gladden, Washington, 225 
Gloria Patri, 47, 61 

Goodwine, Prof. Hugo, 184, 186 
Goshen, 146 

Gospel Songs, 171 

Goss, Sir John, 157 
Gottschalk, 158 

Gregorian Age, 121 


H 


Happen, J. Curuprrr, 95, 132 
Hackett, Karleton, 297 
Halle, 146 
Hanover, 168 
Harmonium, 84 
Hastings, 146 
He Leadeth Me, 172 
Hendon, 146 
Hodge, Charles R., 165 
Holley, 153 
Holy, Holy, Holy, 196 
Homeland, 171 
Home, Singing in the, 134 
How Firm a Foundation, 339 
Hursley, 146, 153, 156 
Hymn: 
After Sermon, 57 
Announcement of, 189 
Developing Devotional Phases 
of, 194 
In Evening Service, 197 
Mutilation of, 190 
Prefatory Comment on, 191 
Reading of, 190 
Hymn Books vs. Hymnals, 141 
Hymnal: 
Character of, 137 
Double Bars in, 148 
Importance of, 140 
Means to an End, 140 
Not a Mere Anthology, 142 
Open-Faced Notes in, 148 


INDEX 


Place of Indexes in, 148 
Practicable Size of, 149 
Problem of Practicability, 146 
Supply of, 137 

Hymnal vs. Hymn Book, 141 

Hymnological Experts, Value 

of, 147 

Hymns: 
Criteria in Selecting, 142 
Practicing, 313 
Singing by Choir, 286 
Vitalisation of, 196 

Hymn Tunes: 
American, 166 
Classes of, 166, 202 
Criteria of Good, 157 
English, 167 
Ministerial Ignorance of, 164 
Ministerial Indifference to, 

164 


Playing of, 99 
Psychological Value of, 174 
Secular Origin of, 155 
Study of, 165 

Tests of Good, 152 

Triple Time in, 153 


I 
IpEALS in Church Music, False, 


I Heard the Voice of Jesus 
Say, 286 

Improvising, Ineffective, 108 

Indexes, Place of in Hymnals, 


I sic Thee Every Hour, 172, 
2 
In LB: of Christ I Glory, 


Instrumental Leadership, 182 

Instrumental Numbers, 72 

Vu aCes Support, Need of, 
2 


Interludes, 64, 100 

Introit, 46, 47, 48 

Inventory of Musical 
sources, 26 

Invocation, 48 

I Will Sing You a Song of 
That Beautiful Land, 339 


Re- 


INDEX 


J 


Jerusalem, the Golden, 339 
Jesus, Lover of My Soul, 338 
Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me, 287, 


339 
Jewett, 157, 158 
Jude, 17 
Junior Choir, 233 
Just as I Am, 287 


L 


LANDON, Rev. FRAnK, 230 
Laudes Domini, 171 
Leadership, Competent, 77 
Lead, Kindly Light, 170, 337 
Learning the Anthem, 307 
Lischer, 146 
Long Prayer, Choir’s Introduc- 
tion to, 61 
Hymn Response to, 62 
Regular Response to, 62 
Lord’s Prayer, Use of, 52 
Lorenz, Ph.D., D. | om 7 
Love Divine, All Loves Ex- 
celling, 287 
Ludwig, 158 
Luther, Martin, 121 
Lutkin, Dr. P. ‘os 105, 132, 143, 
169, 218 


M 
MAnsrFiELp, Dr. OrtANnpo A., 
107, 237 
Mason, Lowell, 146, 155, 166, 
205, 246 


Mason, William, 154 

Materna, 166 

McAfee, Rev. Prof. Cleland 1334 
44, 185, 237, 264, 270, 312, 
331, 355 

McClure, DD Pres) Ji Goi Ke. 
p bts | 

McDonough, M. J., 317 

McDougal, Prof. H. C., 263 

Melody, 168 

Memory, Singing from, 138 

Men’s Choir, 227 

Men’s Voices, Music for, 333 


379 


Men’s Quartets, 333 

Merrial, 170 

Messiah, 146 

Miles Lane, 161 

Panne Hymns and Tunes, 
162 

Monk, Wm. H., 205 

Monotony of Style, to be 
Avoided, 310 

Moody, Dwight L,., 122 

Motives, Singing with Wrong, 
332 

Mountain Railroad, 173 

Musical Resources, Inventory 
in, 26 

Wealth of, 26 

Music Committee, 257 

Music on Hand, Inventory of, 
284 

Music’s Contribution to Church 
Efficiency, 20 

My Faith Looks Up to Thee, 
171, 172, 286 

My Jesus, I Love Thee, 172 


N 
Nearer, My God, to Thee, 172, 
338 


New England Revival, 122 
Nicaea, 170 

Non-Christians in Choir, 250 
Note Reading, Lessons in, 306 
Nun danket alle Gott,.145 
Nuremburg, 146 


O 


Ocravo Music, 276 
Offertory Accompaniments, 55 
Offertory : 
Announcement of, 55 
In Evening Service, 73 
Must be Devotional, 55 
Response, 62 
Old Hundredth, 47, 202 
O eae That Wilt not Let Me 
OF ie 
Open-Faced Notes in Hymnals, 
148 


Opening Hymn, 48 


380 
Opening of Service, Attitude at, 
42 


Orchestra, 83 

Orchestral Instruments, 350 

Order of Service: 
Accepted Forms of, 33 
Controlling Ideas in, 34 
Depends Upon Purpose, 36 
Factors Conditioning, 36 
Faults of Rigid Order, 39 
Free, 6 
ihe endl cae of Repeating, 


68 
Need of, 32 
Novelty Needed in, 68 
Psychological Progress in, 35 
Regular, 67 
Study of Needed, 31 
Variety Needed, 38 
Order of Songs, 70 
Organ as Leader of Singing, 
1 


Organisation of Church, Musi- 
cal23 
Organist as Director, 96 
Organist: 
Importance of, 92, 183 
Qualifications of, 
Relation of to Pastor, 98 
Who Shall Select, 93 
Examination of, 96 
Mottoes for, 111 
Underpaid, 111 
Organ Playing, Common Faults 
in, 104 
Organ Recitals, 336 
Organ Responses, 64 
Orth, James, 95 
O Sacred Head, Now 
Wounded, 286 


P 


Paradise, 171 

Parkhurst, H. E., 184, 230, 231 

Pastor’s Attitude Toward 
Choir, 259 

Pastor the Musical Head, 23 

Pax Tecum, 171 

Phelps, Dr. Austin, 150 


INDEX 


Phrasing, Lack of Proper, 106 
Piano, 83 
Piano in Sunday-school, 350 
Pietas, 161 
Pipe Organ: 
Advantages 01, “6 
Care of, 87 
Mechanism of, 90 
Not Unmixed Good, 85 
Past Use of, 81 
Peace, 158 
Peace, Dri An Ls: 201 
Pedal N otes, Faulty Use of, 104 
Pemittence, 166 
Portamento, 332 
Postlude, 58, 301 
Fitting Music for, 59 
In Harmony with Service, 59 
Often an Evil, 59 
Praise by Proxy, 117 
Praise: 
Congregational Best, 117 
Sung vs. Spoken, 117 
Praising God, Duty of, 115 
Pratt, Waldo Si i22, 44, 57, 95, 
118, 124, 183, 192, 217, 224, 
242, 278, 279 


Prayer: 
In Evening Service, 72 
The Long, 51 


The Soul’s Desire, 172 
Prayer-Meeting Song Talk, 371 
Precentor, 176 
Precentor, Characteristics of 

Good, 178 
Precentor, Minister as, 176 
Prelude: 

Effect of, 43 

Selection of, 43 
Processional, 46 
cea in Order of Service, 


Q 


Quartet Choir, 223 
Advantages of, 224 
Better Than None, 215 
Disadvantages of, 214 
Types of, 226 


INDEX 


Quartets, Organisation of in 
Choir, 257 


j R 


READING of Anthem Text, 324 
Reed Organ, 84 
Reed, William, 201 
Reformation, Age of, 121 
Regent Square, 171 
Registration, 103 
Study of, 89 
Too Frequent Change of, 107 
Varied, 186 
Rehearsals, Congregational, 134 
Religious Training, of Choir, 
306 


Repeating Anthems, 284 
Rescue the Perishing, 171 
Responses: 
Use of, 61 
To Benediction, 63 
Length of, 63 
By Organ, 64 
Responsibility of Pastor, 24 
Responsive Reading, 49 
Substitute for, 61 
Rest, 171 
Revival: 
New England, 122 
Under Moody, 122 
Rhine, 146, 157 
Rising of the Choir, 323 
Rockingham, 168 
Rock of Ages, 286, 338 
Rodeheaver, Homer, 122, 123 
Rosetield, 146 


s 


SacrEp Concerts, 358 
Safe in the Arms of Jesus, 286, 
338 


Salvation Army Songs, 156 
Sankey, Ira D., 107, 122 
Schaff, Dr. Philip, 120 
Schumann, Robert, 248 
Scolding, Ministerial, 209 
Scripture Reading, 56, 72 


381 


Seating of Singers, 292 
Secular Music in Church Ser- 
vice, 156 
Secular Origin of Tunes, 155 
Selection of Music, 23 
Selection of Music by Pastor, 25 
Serenading, 321 
Sermon in Evening Service, 74 
Sermon, Substitutes for, 74 
Seymour, 146, 153, 157 
Shure, Prof. R. Deane, 26 
Signals, Choir Director’s, 290 
Silver Street, 168 
Singers in Choir: 
Organisation of, 256 
Singing Class, 136 
Sing, Obligation to, 130 
Why People Fail to, 130 
Smart, Hensy, 125, 161, 169, 
200, 201, 205 
Smith, Prof. H. Augustine, 27 
Social Lines in Choir, 248 
Solo Instruments, 83 
Soloists, Personal 
of, 
Solos: 
Assigning, 307 
Importance of, 329 
In Anthems, 279 
Solo Singing: 
Faults in, 332 
Provision for, 256 
Pastor’s Supervision of, 331 
Text of, 330 
Solo Quartet, 239 
Song Sermon: 
Outline of, 368 
Structure of, 363 
Value of, 362 
Song Service, 352 
Great Variety Possible, 355 
Of Inspiration, 355 
Of Instruction, 357 
Outline of, 359 
Successful without Preach- 
ing, 342 
vs. Song Sermon, 362 
Songs, Order of, 70 
Song, the Lure of, 69 
Soul-Winning, Choir at, 321 


Character 


382 


Special Music, 282 

Special Music Numbers, 65 

Speed in Hymn Singing, 201 

Spiritual Sense, Wakening, 35 

SA ambi Developing, 312 
t. Agnes, 171 

St Anne, 186 

Se Catharine, 167 

St. Christopher, 171 

St. Francis, 160 

St. George, 171 

St. Gertrude, 160, 170 

St. Hilda, 146 

St. John’s Highlands, 162 

St. Margaret, 170 

St. Thomas, 168 

St. Veronica, 159 

Stainer, Sir John, 110, 207 

Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, 

202 

Stephanos, 171 

Stimulus of Music, 21 

Stockwell, 156 

nti Sanit in Wrong Order, 


Sunday-school Choir, 234 

Sunday-school Hymnals, 348 

Sunday-school, Hymns Suited 
for, 347 

Sunday-school Music, 346 

ty -school not a Service, 
4 


Sunday, William A., 122, 123 
Superintendent as Song Leader, 
349 


Swell Pedal, Abuse of, 109 


if 


TABERNACLE Choir, 233 

Tallis’ Evening Hymn, 153 

Tent Meetings, 76 

Text of Anthems, 277 

Studying, 311 

The Good Fight, 171 

There is a Fountain Filled with 
Blood, 2 

There is a Land of Pure De- 
light, 339 


von Berge, 


INDEX 


Till He ets Oh, Let the 
Words 

Thibaut, 03, “30, 114, 154 
Time, Importance of, 49 
Training the Choir, 242 
Tremolo: 

Objections to, 301 

Abuse of Stop, 108 
Triple Time Music, 173 
Tunes, Impracticable, 143 
Tunes must be Idiomatic, 144 
Tune, What is a, 152 
Tweedie, D.D., Prof. Henry 


U 


UncuurcHen, Securing Atten- 
dance of, 69 

Undesirable Singers, 244 

Unifying Power of Music, 21 

Union Services, 77 

Unison Singing, 144, 207 

MEN Neighbourhood Choirs, 
22 

Unknown Tune Rehearsing, 175 


V 


VARIATIONS in Service: 
Introduce Gradually, 65 
Vibrato, Objections to, 301 

Vocalion, 

Voice Sections in Choir, 256 

Voice Training, 298 
Incidental, 309 

Prot.) Herm." 74; 

184, 238, 297 
Vox Dilecti, 170 
Vox Humana, 185 


W 


Wachet auf. ruft uns, etc., 145 

Warunck, 153, 168 

Webb, 155 

Wesleys, Age of, 121, 122, 172, 
191, 212 


What a Friend We Have in 
Jesus, 172 


INDEX 383 


sade is Sunshine in My Soul, 
1 


Till He Come, 339 

When I Survey the Wondrous 
Cross, 172 

When the Roll is Called, 172 

Willis, Richard Storrs, 155 

Wilmot, 146 

Wodell, F. W., 6, 227, 249 

Women Organists, 96 


Women’s Choir, 228 
Women’s Voices: 
Organisation of in Choir, 257 
Word Painting, 103 
Work, for the Night is Com- 
ing, 171 


Z 


ZUNDEL, JOHN, 96 


Glossary of Common Musical Terms 


A capella—Without instrument. 

Accelerando (accel.) — Gradu- 
ally faster. 

Adagio—Slowly. 

Ad libitum (ad lib.)—At will. 

Affettuoso—Tenderly. 

A gitato—Excitedly. 

Alla marcia—March style. 

Sete ii Rt abide and heav- 


ily. 

Allegretto—Slower than AIl- 
legro. 

Allegro—Quick, lively. 

Andante — Quiet, peaceful 
movement. 

Andantino — Less 
Andante. 

Animato—With animation. 

Ardito—With warmth. 

A tempo—In time. 

Brillante—Brilliantly. 

Calando—Movement and force 
decreasing. 

Cantabile — In 
smoothly. 

Celere—Fast, rapid. 

Coda—* Tail,” closing passage. 

Colla voce—With the voice. 

Commodo—Quietly. 

Con amore—With tenderness. 

Con anima—With animation. 

Con brio—With fire. 

Con dolore—With dolefulness. 

Con energia—With energy. 

Con espressione—With expres- 
sion, 

Con forza—With force. 

Con fuoco—With fire, 

Con grazia—With grace, 

Con moto—With motion. 

Con precisione—With precision. 

Con spirito—With spirit. 


slow than 


singing style, 


384 


Crescendo (cres.)—Increase in 
loudness. 
Da capo (D.C.)—From the be- 
ginning. 
Dal segno (D.S.)—From_ the 
sign. 
Dectso—With decision. 
Diminuendo (dim.) — Decreas- 
ing in loudness. 
Divoto—With devotion. 
Dolce—Sweetly. 
Doloroso—Mournfully. 
Energico—Energetically. 
Espressivo—With expression. 
Forte (f)—Loud. 
Fortissimo (ff)—Very loud. 
Forte-fortissimo (fff)—As loud 
as possible. 
Glissando—Glidingly. 
Grandioso—Grandly. 
Grave—Slow, solemn. 
Gravemente—Gravely. 
Grazioso—Gracefully. 
Gustaso—Tastefully. 
Impetuoso—Impetuously. 
Indeciso—Waveringly. 
Irresoluto—Undecided. 
Jubiloso—Jubilantly. 
Largo—Very slow. 
Largamente—Expansively. 
Legato—With smoothness. 
Lentando—Growing slower. 
Lento—Slow, between adagio 
and grave. 
Maestoso—Majestically. 
Marziale—Martially. 
Meno mosso — Less 
slower. 
Mezzo (m)—Medium. 
Mezzo forte (mf) — Medium 


loud. 


motion, 


GLOSSARY OF COMMON MUSICAL TERMS 385 


Mezzo piano (mp)—Medium 
soft, 

Mezzo voce—Half voice. 

Moderato—M od erate move- 
ment. 

Molto mosso—Hurry the move- 
ment, 

Molto voce—With full voice. 

Mosso—With movement, emo- 
tionally, 

Pastorale—Gracefully, 
ingly. 

Patetico—Pathetically. 

Pensoso—Pensively. 

Pesante—Ponderously, 

Piano (p)—Softly. 

Pianissimo (pp)—Very softly. 

Pia-pianissimo (ppp)—As soft- 
ly as possible. 

Pietoso—Tenderly, 

Piu—More. 

Poco—A little, rather, 

Poco a poco—Gradually, 

Poco lento—Rather slowly. 

Pomposo—Pompously. 

Ponderoso—Ponderous, strong- 
ly marked, 

Portamento—Sliding from note 
to note. 

Precisione—Precisely, 

Presto—Very fast. 

Rallentando (rall.) — Decreas- 
ing movement and force. 

Recitando—Recitingly. 


charm- 


Recitative — Declamatory sing- 
ing. 

Religioso—Religiously. 

Risoluto—Resolute. 


Ritardando  (rit.) — Retarding 
movement. 
Ritenuto (riten.) — Movement 


decreasing at once. 
Scherzando—Play fully. 
Semplice—Simply. 
Sempre—Always, throughout. 
Senza—Without. 
Senza Organo—Without organ. 
Serioso—Seriously. 
Sforzando (sf., sfz.)—Sudden 
strong accent. 
Soave—Sweetly. 
Solenne—Solemn. 
Sostenuto—Sustained, without 
haste. 
Sotto voce—In an undertone. 
Spiritoso—With spirit. 
Staccatds (stac.)—Detached, cut 
off. 
Tacet— Tt is silent,” 
Tempo—Time. 
Tempo primo—Original time. 
Tranquillo—Quiet. 
V eloce—Fast. 
Vibrato—Vibrating quality of 
tone. 
Vigoroso—Vigourously. 
Vivace—Very fast. 


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